ARABIAN NIGHTS
Translated by
Sir Richard Burton

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Chapter 1 In the Name of Allah the Compassionating the Compassionate!

Chapter 2 The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince

Chapter 3 The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad

Chapter 4 The Hunchbackâs Tale

Chapter 5 The Tale of Nur Al-Din Ali and His Son Badr Al-Din Hasan

Chapter 6 The Sweep and the Noble Lady

Chapter 7 The Man of Al-Yaman and His Six Slave-Girls

Chapter 8 Two Stories of Harun Al-Rashid

THE CALIPH HARUN AL-RASHID AND QUEEN ZUBAYDAH IN THE BATH

HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE THREE POETS

Chapter 9 The Foolish Dominie

Chapter 10 The Butcherâs Adventure with the Lady and the Bear

Chapter 11 The Goldsmith and the Cashmere Singing-Girl

Chapter 12 The Lady and Her Five Suitors

Chapter 13 The Lovers of Bassorah

Chapter 14 The Man and His Wife

Chapter 15 Tale of the Singer and the Druggist

Chapter 16 The Tale of the Richard Who Married His Beautiful Daughter to the Poor Old Man

Chapter 17 The Tale of the Simpleton Husband

Chapter 18 The Tale of the Robber and the Woman

Chapter 19 The Tale of the Two Sharpers Who Each Cozened His Compeer

Chapter 20 Womenâs Wiles

Chapter 21 The Concubine of Al-Maamun

Chapter 22 The Story of the Three Sharpers

Chapter 23 The Cairene Youth, the Barber, and the Captain

Chapter 24 The Goodwife of Cairo and Her Four Gallants

THE TAILOR AND THE LADY AND THE CAPTAIN

Chapter 25 The Syrian and the Three Women of Cairo

Chapter 26 The Whorish Wife Who Vaunted Her Virtue

Chapter 27 Coelebs the Droll and His Wife and Her Four Lovers

Chapter 28 Mohammed the Shalabi and His Mistress and His Wife

Chapter 29 The Fellah and his Wicked Wife

Chapter 30 The Woman Who Humoured her Lover at Her Husbandâs Expense

Chapter 31 Story of the Two Lack-Tacts of Cairo and Damascus

Chapter 32 Tale of the Second Eunuch, Kafur

Chapter 33 Nur Al-Din Ali and the Damsel Anis Al-Jalis

Chapter 34 The Barberâs Tale of His Third Brother

THE BARBERâS TALE OF HIS FOURTH BROTHER

THE BARBERâS TALE OF HIS FIFTH BROTHER

THE BARBERâS TALE OF HIS SIXTH BROTHER

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases Adapted from the Collins English Dictionary

About the Author

History of Collins

Copyright

About the Publisher

CHAPTER 1 In the Name of Allah the Compassionating the Compassionate!

Praise be to Allah

The Beneficent King

The Creator of the Universe

Lord of the Three Worlds

Who set up the firmament without pillars in its stead

And who stretched out the earth even as a bed

And grace, and prayer â blessing be upon our Lord Mohammed

Lord of Apostolic men

And upon his family and companion-train

Prayer and blessings enduring and grace which

Unto the day of doom shall remain Amen!

O Thou of the Three Worlds Sovereign!

And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before us have become instances and examples to men of our modern day, that folk may view what admonishing chances befell other folk and may therefrom take warning; and that they may peruse the annals of antique peoples and all that hath betided them, and be thereby ruled and restrained. Praise, therefore, be to Him who hath made the histories of the Past and admonition unto the Present!

Now of such instances are the tales called A Thousand Nights and a Night, together with their far-famed legends and wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All-knowing of His hidden things and All-ruling and All-honoured and All-giving and All-gracious and All-merciful!) that, in time of yore and in time long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sasan in the Islands of India and China a Lord of armies and guards and servants and dependents. He left only two sons, one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were Knights and Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman than the younger. So he succeeded to the empire: when he ruled the land and lorded it over his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was beloved by all the peoples of his capital and of his kingdom.

His name was King Shahryar, and he made his younger brother, Shah Zaman hight, King of Samarcand in Barbarianland. These two ceased not to abide in their several realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions; and each ruled his own kingdom, with equity and fair-dealing to his subjects, in extreme solace and enjoyment; and this condition continually endured for a score of years. But at the end of the twentieth twelvemonth the elder King yearned for a sight of his younger brother and felt that he must look upon him once more. So he took counsel with his Wazir about visiting him, but the Minister, finding the project unadvisable, recommended that a letter be written and a present be sent under his charge to the younger brother with an invitation to visit the elder. Having accepted this advice the King forthwith bade prepare handsome gifts, such as horses with saddles of gem encrusted gold; Mamelukes, or white slaves; beautiful handmaids, high-breasted virgins, and splendid stuffs and costly.

He then wrote a letter to Shah Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to see him, ending with these words, âWe therefore hope of the favour and affection of the beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir himself and turn his face us-wards. Furthermore we have sent our Wazir to make all ordinance for the march, and our one and only desire is to see thee ere we die; but if thou delay or disappoint us we shall not survive the blow. Wherewith peace be upon thee!â Then King Shahryar, having sealed the missive and given it to the Wazir with the offerings aforementioned, commanded him to shorten his skirts and strain his strength and make all expedition in going and returning. âHarkening and obedience!â quoth the Minister, who fell to making ready without stay and packed up his loads and prepared all his requisites without delay. This occupied him three days, and on the dawn of the fourth he took leave of his King and marched right away, over desert and hillway, stony waste and pleasant lea without halting by night or by day.

But whenever he entered a realm whose ruler was subject to his Suzerain, where he was greeted with magnificent gifts of gold and silver and all manner of presents fair and rare, he would tarry there three days, the term of the guest-rite; and, when he left on the fourth, he would be honourably escorted for a whole dayâs march. As soon as the Wazir drew near Shah Zamanâs court in Samarcand he dispatched to report his arrival one of his high officials, who presented himself before the King; and, kissing ground between his hands, delivered his message. Hereupon the King commanded sundry of his Grandees and Lords of his realm to fare forth and meet his brotherâs Wazir at the distance of a full dayâs journey; which they did, greeting him respectfully and wishing him all prosperity and forming an escort and a procession.

When he entered the city he proceeded straightway to the palace, where he presented himself in the royal presence; and, after kissing ground and praying for the Kingâs health and happiness and for victory over all his enemies, he informed him that his brother was yearning to see him, and prayed for the pleasure of a visit. He then delivered the letter which Shah Zaman took from his hand and read: it contained sundry hints and allusions which required thought; but, when the King had fully comprehended its import, he said, âI hear and I obey the commands of the beloved brother!â Adding to the Wazir, âBut we will not march till after the third dayâs hospitality.â He appointed for the Minister fitting quarters of the palace; and, pitching tents for the troops, rationed them with whatever they might require of meat and drink and other necessaries. On the fourth day he made ready for wayfare and got together sumptuous presents befitting his elder brotherâs majesty, and stablished his chief Wazir viceroy of the land during his absence. Then he caused his tents and camels and mules to be brought forth and encamped with their bales, and loads, attendants and guards, within sight of the city, in readiness to set out next morning for his brotherâs capital.

But when the night was half spent he bethought him that he had forgotten in his palace somewhat which he should have brought with him, so he returned privily and entered his apartments, where he found the Queen, his wife, asleep on his own carpet-bed, embracing with both arms a black cook of loathsome aspect and foul with kitchen grease and grime. When he saw this the world waxed black before his sight and he said, âIf such case happen while I am yet within sight of the city what will be the doings of this damned whore during my long absence at my brotherâs court?â So he drew his scymitar, and cutting the two in four pieces with a single blow, left them on the carpet and returned presently to his camp without letting anyone know of what had happened. Then he gave orders for immediate departure and set out at once and began his travel; but he could not help thinking over his wifeâs treason and he kept ever saying to himself, âHow could she do this deed by me? How could she work her own death?â till excessive grief seized him, his colour changed to yellow, his body waxed weak and he was threatened with a dangerous malady, such an one as bringeth men to die. So the Wazir shortened his stages and tarried long at the watering-stations and did his best to solace the King.

Now when Shah Zaman drew near the capital of his brother he dispatched vaunt-couriers and messengers of glad tidings to announce his arrival, and Shahryar came forth to meet him with his Wazirs and Emirs and Lords and Grandees of his realm; and saluted him and joyed with exceeding joy and caused the city to be decorated in his honour. When, however, the brothers met, the elder could not but see the change of complexion in the younger and questioned him of his case whereto he replied, ââTis caused by the travails of wayfare and my case needs care, for I have suffered from the change of water and air! But Allah be praised for reuniting me with a brother so dear and so rare!â

On this wise he dissembled and kept his secret, adding âO King of the time and Caliph of the tide, only toil and moil have tinged my face yellow with bile and hath made my eyes sink deep in my head.â Then the two entered the capital in all honour; and the elder brother lodged the younger in a palace overhanging the pleasure garden; and, after a time, seeing his condition still unchanged, he attributed it to his separation from his country and kingdom. So let him wend his own ways and asked no questions of him till one day when he again said, âO my brother I see that art grown weaker of body and yellower of colour.â âO my brother,â replied Shah Zaman, âI have an internal wound,â still he would not tell him what he had witnessed in his wife.

Thereupon Shahryar summoned doctors and surgeons and bade them treat his brother according to the rules of art, which they did for a whole month; but their sherbets and potions naught availed, for he would dwell upon the deed of his wife, and despondency, instead of diminishing, prevailed, and leach-craft treatment utterly failed. One day his elder brother said to him, âI am going forth to hunt and course and to take my pleasure and pastime; maybe this would lighten thy heart.â Shah Zaman however, refused, saying, âO my brother, my soul yearneth for naught of this sort and I entreat thy favour to suffer me tarry quietly in this place, being wholly taken up with my malady.â

So King Shah Zaman passed his night in the palace and, next morning, when his brother had fared forth, he removed from his room and sat him down at one of the lattice-windows overlooking the pleasure grounds: and there he abode thinking with saddest thought over his wifeâs betrayal and burning sighs issued from his tortured breast. And as he continued in this case lo! a postern of the palace, which was carefully kept private, swung open and out of it came twenty slave girls surrounding his brotherâs wife who was wondrous fair, a model of beauty and comeliness and symmetry and perfect loveliness and who paced with the grace of a gazelle which panteth for the cooling stream.

Thereupon Shah Zaman drew back from the window, but he kept the bevy in sight espying them from a place whence he could not be espied. They walked under the very lattice and advanced a little way into the garden till they came to a jetting fountain amiddlemost a great basin of water; then they stripped off their clothes and behold, ten of them were women, concubines of the King, and the other ten were white slaves. Then they all paired off, each with each: but the Queen, who was left alone, presently cried out in a loud voice, âHere to me, O my lord Saeed!â and then sprang with a drop-leap from one of the trees a big slobbering blackamoor with rolling eyes which showed the whites, a truly hideous sight. He walked boldly up to her and threw his arms around her neck while she embraced him as warmly; then he bussed her and winding his legs round hers, as a button-loop clasps a button, he threw her and enjoyed her.

On like wise did the other slaves with the girls till all had satisfied their passions, and they ceased not from kissing and clipping, coupling and carousing till day began to wane; when the Mamelukes rose from the damselsâ bosoms and the blackamoor slave dismounted from the Queenâs breast; the men resumed their disguises and all, except the negro who swarmed up the tree, entered the palace and closed the postern-door as before. Now, when Shah Zaman saw this conduct of his sister-in-law he said in himself, âBy Allah, my calamity is lighter than this! My brother is a greater King among the kings than I am, yet this infamy goeth on in his very palace, and his wife is in love with that filthiest of filthy slaves. But this only showeth that they all do it and that there is no woman but who cuckoldeth her husband; then the curse of Allah upon one and all and upon the fools who lean against them for support or who place the reins of conduct in their hands.â So he put away his melancholy and despondency, regret and repine, and allayed his sorrow by constantly repeating those words, adding ââTis my conviction that no man in this world is safe from their malice!â When supper-time came they brought him the trays and he ate with voracious appetite, for he had long refrained from meat, feeling unable to touch any dish however dainty.

Then he returned grateful thanks to Almighty Allah, praising Him and blessing Him, and he spent a most restful night, it having been long since he had savoured the sweet food of sleep. Next day be broke his fast heartily and began to recover health and strength, and presently regained excellent condition. His brother came back from the chase ten days after, when he rode out to meet him and they saluted each other; and when King Shahryar looked at King Zaman he saw how the hue of health had returned to him, how his face had waxed ruddy and how he ate with an appetite after his late scanty diet. He wondered much and said, âO my brother, I was so anxious that thou wouldst join me in hunting and chasing, and wouldst take thy pleasure and pastime in my dominion!â

He thanked him and excused himself; then the two took horse and rode into the city and, when they were seated at their ease in the palace, the food-trays were set before them and they ate their sufficiency. After the meats were removed and they had washed their hands, King Shahryar turned to his brother and said, âMy mind is overcome with wonderment at thy condition. I was desirous to carry thee with me to the chase but I saw thee changed in hue, pale and wan to view, and in sore trouble of mind too. But now Alhamdolillah â glory be to God! â I see thy natural colour hath returned to thy face and that thou art again in the best of case. It was my belief that thy sickness came of severance from thy family and friends, and absence from capital and country, so I refrained from troubling thee with further questions. But now I beseech thee to expound to me the cause of thy complaint and thy change of colour, and to explain the reason of thy recovery and the return to the ruddy hue of health which I am wont to view. So speak out and hide naught!â

When Shah Zaman heard this he bowed groundwards awhile his head, then raised it and said, âI will tell thee what caused my complaint and my loss of colour; but excuse my acquainting thee with the cause of its return to me and the reason of my complete recovery: indeed I pray thee not to press me for a reply.â Said Shahryar, who was much surprised by these words, âLet me hear first what produced thy pallor and thy poor condition.â âKnow, then, O my brother,â rejoined Shah Zaman, âthat when thou sentest thy Wazir with the invitation to place myself between thy hands, I made ready and marched out of my city; but presently I minded me having left behind me in the palace a string of jewels intended as a gift to thee. I returned for it alone and found my wife on my carpet-bed and in the arms of a hideous black cook. So I slew the twain and came to thee, yet my thoughts brooded over this business and I lost my bloom and became weak. But excuse me if I still refuse to tell thee what was the reason of my complexion returning.â

Shahryar shook his head, marvelling with extreme marvel, and with the fire of wrath flaming up from his heart, he cried, âIndeed, the malice of woman is mighty!â Then he took refuge from them with Allah and said, âIn very sooth, O my brother, thou hast escaped many an evil by putting thy wife to death, and right excusable were thy wrath and grief for such mishap which never yet befell crowned King like thee. By Allah, had the case been mine, I would not have been satisfied without slaying a thousand women and that way madness lies! But now praise be to Allah who hath tempered to thee thy tribulation, and needs must thou acquaint me with that which so suddenly restored to thee complexion and health, and explain to me what causeth this concealment.â âO King of the Age, again I pray thee excuse my so doing!â âNay, but thou must.â âI fear, O my brother, lest the recital cause thee more anger and sorrow than afflicted me the whole history, and I conjure thee by Allah now to keep back naught from me.â

Thereupon Shah Zaman told him all he had seen, from commencement to conclusion, ending with these words, âWhen I beheld thy calamity and the treason of thy wife, O my brother, and I reflected that thou art in years my senior and in sovereignty my superior, mine own sorrow was belittled by the comparison, and my mind recovered tone and temper: so throwing off melancholy and despondency, I was able to eat and drink and sleep, and thus I speedily regained health and strength. Such is the truth and the whole truth.â When King Shahryar heard this he waxed wroth with exceeding wrath, and rage was like to strangle him; but presently he recovered himself and said, âO my brother, I would not give thee the lie in this matter, but I cannot credit it till I see it with mine own eyes.â âAn thou wouldst look upon thy calamity,â quoth Shah Zaman, ârise at once and make ready again for hunting and coursing, and then hide thyself with me, so shalt thou witness it and thine eyes shall verify it.â âTrue,â quoth the King; whereupon he let make proclamation of his intent to travel, and the troops and tents fared forth without the city, camping within sight, and Shahryar sallied out with them and took seat amidmost his host, bidding the slaves admit no man to him. When night came on he summoned his Wazir and said to him, âSit thou in my stead and let none wot of my absence till the term of three days.â

Then the brothers disguised themselves and returned by night with all secrecy to the palace, where they passed the dark hours: and at dawn they seated themselves at the lattice overlooking the pleasure grounds, when presently the Queen and her handmaids came out as before, and passing under the windows made for the fountain. Here they stripped, ten of them being men to ten women, and the Kingâs wife cried out, âWhere art thou, O Saeed?â The hideous blackamoor dropped from the tree straightway; and, rushing into her arms without stay or delay, cried out, âI am Saâad al-Din Saood!â The lady laughed heartily, and all fell to satisfying their lusts, and remained so occupied for a couple of hours, when the white slaves rose up from the handmaidensâ breasts and the blackamoor dismounted from the Queenâs bosom: then they went into the basin and, after performing the Ghusl, or complete ablution, donned their dresses and retired as they had done before.

When King Shahryar saw this infamy of his wife and concubines he became as one distraught and he cried out, âOnly in utter solitude can man be safe from the doings of this vile world! By Allah, life is naught but one great wrong.â Presently he added, âDo not thwart me, O my brother, in what I propose;â and the other answered, âI will not.â So he said, âLet us up as we are and depart forthright hence, for we have no concern with Kingship, and let us overwander Allahâs earth, worshipping the Almighty till we find some one to whom the like calamity hath happened; and if we find none then will death will be more welcome to us than life.â

So the two brothers issued from a second private postern of the palace; and they never stinted wayfaring by day and by night, until they reached a tree amiddle of a meadow hard by a spring of sweet water on the shore of the salt sea. Both drank of it and sat down to take their rest; and when an hour of the day had gone by, lo! they heard a mighty roar and uproar in the middle of the main as though the heavens were falling upon the earth; and the sea brake with waves before them, and from it towered a black pillar, which grew and grew till it rose sky-wards and began making for that meadow.

Seeing it, they waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed to the top of the tree, which was a lofty; whence they gazed to see what might be the matter. And behold, it was a Jinni, huge of height and burly of breast and bulk, broad of brow and black of blee, bearing on his head a coffer of crystal. He strode to land, wading through the deep, and coming to the tree whereupon were the two Kings seated himself beneath it. He then set down the coffer on its bottom and out of it drew a casket, with seven padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven keys of steel he took from beside his thigh, and out of it a young lady to come was seen, white-skinned and on windomest mien, of stature fine and thin, and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night she had been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet Utayyah hath excellently said:

She rose like the morn as she shone through the night.

And she gilded the grove with her gracious sight.

From her radiance the sun taketh increase when.

She unveileth and shameth the moonshine bright.

Bow down all beings between her hands,

As she showeth charms with her veil undight.

And she floodeth cities with torrent tears

When she flasheth her look of leven-light.

The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at her said, âO choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of noblest line, whom I snatched away on thy bride-night that none might prevent me taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I did, and whom none save myself hath loved or hath enjoyed: O my sweetheart! I would lief sleep a little while.â He then laid his head upon the ladyâs thighs; and, stretching out his legs which extended down to the sea, slept and snored and snarked like the roll of thunder.

Presently she raised her head towards the tree-top and saw the two Kings perched near the summit; then she softly lifted off her lap the Jinniâs pate which she was tired of supporting and placed it upon the ground; then standing upright under the tree signed to the Kings, âCome ye down; ye two, and fear naught from this Ifrit.â They were in a terrible fright when they found that she had seen them and answered her in the same manner, âAllah upon thee and by thy modesty, O lady, excuse us from coming down!â But she rejoined by saying, âAllah upon you both that ye come down forthright, and if ye come not, I will rouse upon you my husband, this Ifrit, and he shall do you to die by the illest of deathsâ; and she continued making signals to them.

So, being afraid, they came down to her and she rose before them and said, âStroke me a strong stroke, without stay or delay, otherwise will I arouse and set upon you this Ifrit who shall slay you straightway.â They said to her, âO our lady, we conjure thee by Allah, let us off this work, for we are fugitives from such and in extreme dread and terror of this thy husband. How then can we do it in such a way as thou desirest?â âLeave this talk: it needs must be so;â quoth she, and she swore them by Him who raised the skies on high, without prop or pillar, that, if they worked not her will, she would cause them to be slain and cast into the sea.

Whereupon out of fear King Shahryar said to King Shah Zaman, âO my brother, do thou what she biddeth thee do;â but he replied, âI will not do it till thou do it before I do. And they began disputing about knowing her. Then quoth she to the twain, âHow is it I see you disputing and demurring; if ye do not come forward like men and do the deed of kind ye two, I will arouse upon you the Ifrit.â At this, by reason of their sore dread of the Jinni, both did by her what she bade them do; and, when they had dismounted from her, she said, âWell done!â

She then took from her pocket a purse and drew out a knotted string, whereon were strung five hundred and seventy seal rings, and asked. âKnow ye what be these?â They answered her saying, âWe know not!â Then quoth she; âThese be the signets of five hundred and seventy men who have all futtered me upon the horns of this foul, this foolish, this filthy Ifrit; so give me also your two seal rings, ye pair of brothers.â When they had drawn their two rings from their hands and given them to her, she said to them, âOf a truth this Ifrit bore me off on my bride-night, and put me into a casket and set the casket in a coffer and to the coffer he affixed seven strong padlocks of steel and deposited me on the deep bottom of the sea that raves, dashing and clashing with waves; and guarded me so that I might remain chaste and honest, quotha! that none save himself might have connexion with me. But I have lain under as many of my kind as I please, and this wretched Jinni wotteth not that Destiny may not be averted nor hindered by aught, and that whatso woman willeth the same she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even so saith one of them:

âRely not on women;

Trust not to their hearts,

Whose joys and whose sorrows

Are hung to their parts!

Lying love they will swear thee

Whence guile neâer departs:

Take Yusuf for sample

âWare sleights and âware smarts!

Iblis ousted Adam

(See ye not?) throâ their arts.

âAnd another saith:

âStint thy blame, man!

âTwill drive to a passion without bound;

My fault is not so heavy as fault in it hast found.

If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not

Save what happened unto many in

the by-gone stound.

For wonderful is he and right

worthy of our praise

Who from wiles of female wits

kept him safe and kept him sound.â

Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and she went from them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her thigh as before, said to them softly, âNow wend your ways and bear yourselves beyond the bounds of his malice.â So they fared forth saying either to other, âAllah! Allah!â and, âThere be no Majesty and there be no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great; and with Him we seek refuge from womenâs malice and sleight, for a truth it hath no mate in might. Consider, O my brother, the ways of this marvellous lady with an Ifrit who is so much more powerful than we are. Now since there hath happened to him a greater mishap than that which befell us and which should bear us abundant consolation, so return we to our countries and capitals, and let us decide never to intermarry with womankind and presently we will show them what will be our action.â

Thereupon they rode back to the tents of King Shahryar, which they reached on the morning of the third day; and, having mustered the Wazirs and Emirs, the Chamberlains and high officials, he gave a robe of honour to his Viceroy and issued orders for an immediate return to the city. There he sat him upon his throne and sending for the Chief Minister, the father of the two damsels who (Insh-allah!) will presently be mentioned, he said, âI command thee to take my wife and smite her to death; for she hath broken her plight and her faith.â So he carried her to the place of execution and did her die. Then King Shahryar took brand in hand and repairing to the Serraglio slew all the concubines and their Mamelukes. He also sware himself by a binding oath that whatever wife he married he would abate her maidenhead at night and slay her next morning to make sure of his honour; âFor,â said he, âthere never was nor is there one chaste woman upon the face of earth.â

CHAPTER 2 The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince

Know then, O my lord, that whilome my sire was King of this city, and his name was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black Islands, and owner of what are now these four mountains. He ruled threescore and ten years, after which he went to the mercy of the Lord and I reigned as Sultan in his stead. I took to wife my cousin, the daughter of my paternal uncle.¹ and she loved me with such abounding love that whenever I was absent she ate not and she drank not until she saw me again. She cohabited with me for five years till a certain day when she went forth to the Hammam bath; and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all requisites for our supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on my bed where I was wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my face, one sitting by my head and the other at my feet.

But I was troubled and made restless by my wifeâs absence and could not sleep; for although my eyes were closed my mind and thoughts were wide awake. Presently I heard the slave-girl at my head say to her at my feet, âO Masudah, how miserable is our master and how wasted in his youth and oh! the pity of his being so betrayed by our mistress, the accursed whore!â The other replied, âYes indeed: Allah curse all faithless women and adulterous; but the like of our master, with his fair gifts, deserveth something better than this harlot who lieth abroad every night.â Then quoth she who sat by my head, âIs our lord dumb or fit only for bubbling that he questioneth her not!â and quoth the other, âFie on thee! doth our Lord know her ways or doth she allow him his choice? Nay, more, doth she not drug every night the cup she giveth him to drink before sleep-time, and put Bhang¹ into it? So he sleepeth and wotteth not whither she goeth, nor what she doeth; but we know that, after giving him the drugged wine, she donneth her richest raiment and perfumeth herself and then she fareth out from him to be away till break of day; then she cometh to him, and burneth a pastille under his nose and he awaketh from his deathlike sleep.â

When I heard the slave-girlâs words, the light became black before my sight and I thought night would never fall. Presently the daughter of my uncle came from the baths; and they set the table for us and we ate and sat together a fair half-hour quaffing our wine as was ever our wont. Then she called for the particular wine I used to drink before sleeping and reached me the cup; but, seeming to drink it according to my wont, I poured the contents into my bosom; and, lying down, let her hear that I was asleep. Then, behold, she cried, âSleep out the night, and never wake again: by Allah I loathe thee and I loathe thy whole body, and my soul turneth in disgust from cohabiting with thee; and I see not the moment when Allah shall snatch away thy life!â

Then she rose and donned her fairest dress and perfumed her person and slung my sword over her shoulder; and, opening the gates of the palace went her ill way. I rose and followed her as she left the palace and she threaded the streets until she came to the city gate, where she spoke words I understood not, and the padlocks dropped of themselves as if broken and the gate-leaves opened. She went forth (and I after her without her noticing aught) till she came at last to the outlying monds¹ and a reed fence built about a round-roofed hut of mud-bricks.

As she entered the door, I climbed upon the roof which commanded a view of the interior, and Io! my fair cousin had gone in to a hideous negro slave with his upper lip like the cover of a pot, and his lower like an open pot; lips which might sweep up sand from the gravel-floor of the cot. He was to boot a leper and a paralytic, lying upon a strew of sugar-cane trash and wrapped in an old blanket and the foulest rags and tatters. She kissed the earth before him, and he raised his head so as to see her and said, âWoe to thee! what call hadst thou to stay away all this time? Here have been with me sundry of the black brethren, who drank their wine and each had his young lady, and I was not content to drink because of thine absence.â Then she, âO my lord, my heartâs love and coolth of my eyes, knowest thou not that I am married to my cousin whose very look I loathe, and hate myself when in his company? And did not I fear for thy sake, I would not let a single sun arise before making his city a ruined heap wherein raven should croak and howlet hoot, and jackal and wolf harbour and loot; nay I had removed its very stones to the back side of Mount Kaf.â

Rejoined the slave, âThou liest, damn thee! Now I swear an oath by the valour and honour of blackamoor men (and deem not out manliness to be the poor manliness of white men), from today forth if thou stay away till this hour, I will not keep company with thee nor will I glue my body with thy body and strum and belly-pump. Dost play fast and loose with us, thou cracked pot, that we may satisfy thy dirty lusts? Stinkard! Bitch! Vilest of the vile whites!â When I heard his words, and saw with my own eyes what passed between these two wretches, the world waxed dark before my face and my soul knew not in what place it was. But my wife humbly stood up weeping before and wheedling the slave, and saying, âO my beloved, and very fruit of my heart, there is none left to cheer me but thy dear self; and, if thou cast me off who shall take me in, O my beloved, O light of my eyes?â

And she ceased not weeping and abasing herself to him until he deigned be reconciled with her. Then was she right glad and stood up and doffed her clothes, even to her petticoat-trousers, and said, âO my master what hast thou here for thy handmaiden to eat?â âUncover the basin,â he grumbled, âand thou shalt find at the bottom the broiled bones of some rats we dined on; pick at them, and then go to that slop-pot where thou shalt find some leavings of beer which thou mayest drink.â So she ate and drank and washed her hands, and went and lay down by the side of the slave, upon the cane-trash, and stripping herself stark naked, she crept in with him under his foul coverlet and his rags and tatters.

When I saw my wife, my cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do this deed I clean lost my wits, and climbing down from the roof, I entered and took the sword which she had with her and drew it, determined to cut down the twain. I first struck at the slaveâs neck and thought that the death decree had fallen on him for the groaned a loud hissing groan, but I had cut only the skin and flesh of the gullet and the two arteries! It awoke the daughter of my uncle, so I sheathed the sword and fared forth for the city; and, entering the palace, lay upon my bed and slept till morning when my wife aroused me and I saw that she had cut off her hair and had donned mourning garments. Quoth she: âO son of my uncle, blame me not for what I do; it hath just reached me that my mother is dead, and my father hath been killed in holy war, and of my brothers one hath lost his life by a snake-sting and the other by falling down some precipice; and I can and should do naught save weep and lament.â

When I heard her words I refrained from all reproach and said only: âDo as thou list; I certainly will not thwart thee.â She continued sorrowing, weeping and wailing one whole year from the beginning of its circle to the end, and when it was finished she said to me: âI wish to build me in thy palace a tomb with a cupola, which I will set apart for my mourning and will name the House of Lamenations.â Quoth I again: âDo as thou list!â

Then she builded for herself a cenotaph wherein to mourn, and set on its centre a dome under which showed a tomb like a Santonâs sepulchre. Thither she carried the slave and lodged him; but he was exceeding weak by reason of his wound, and unable to do her love-service; he could only drink wine and from the day of his hurt he spake not a word, yet he lived on because his appointed hour was not come. Every day, morning and evening, my wife went to him and wept and wailed over him and gave him wine and strong soups, and left not off doing after this manner a second year; and I bore with her patiently and paid no heed to her. One day, however, I went in to her unawares; and I found her weeping and beating her face and crying: âWhy art thou absent from my sight, O my heartâs delight? Speak to me, O my life; talk with me, O my love?â Then she recited these verses:

âFor your love my patience fails and albeit you forget

I may not; nor to other love my heart can make reply:

Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare

And where you pitch the camp let my body buried lie:

Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return

The moaning of my bones responsive to your cry.â

Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:

âThe day of my delight is the day when draw you near

And the day of mine affright is the day you turn away:

Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death

When I hold you in my arms I am free from all affray.â

Once more she began reciting:

âThough a-mourn I may awake with all happiness in hand

Though the world all be mine and like Kisra-kings I reign;

To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat

When I fail to see thy form, when I look for thee in vain.â

When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to her: âO my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring forth tears there is little profit!â âThwart me not,â answered she, âin aught I do, or I will lay violent hands on myself!â So I held my peace and left her to go her own way; and she ceased not to cry and keen and indulge her affliction for yet another year. At the end of the third year I waxed weary of this longsome mourning, and one day I happened to enter the cenotaph when vexed and angry with some matter which had thwarted me, and suddenly I heard her say: âO lord, I never hear thee vouchsafe a single word to me! Why dost thou not answer me, O my master?â and she began reciting:

âO thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his beauty set in shade?

Hast thou darkened that countenance all sheeny as the noon?

O thou tomb! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me

Then how cometh it in thee are conjoined my sun and moon?â

When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage; I cried out: âWell-away! how long is this sorrow to last?â and I began repeating:

âO thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his horrors set in blight?

Hast thou darkened his countenance that sickeneth the soul?

O thou tomb! neither cess-pool nor pipkin art to me

Then how cometh it in thee are conjoined soil and coal?â

When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying: âFie upon thee, thou cur! all this is of thy doings; thou hast wounded my heartâs darling and thereby worked me sore woe and thou hast wasted his youth so that these three years he hath lain abed more dead than alive!â In my wrath I cried: âO thou foulest of harlots and filthiest of whores ever known by negro slaves who are hired to have at thee! Yes indeed it was I who did this good deed:â and snatching up my sword I drew it and made at her to cut her down. But she laughed my words and mine intent to scorn crying: âTo heel, hound that thou art! Alas for the past which shall no more come to pass nor shall any one avail the dead to raise. Allah hath indeed now given into my hand him who did to me this thing, a deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which died not and a flame which might not be quenched!â

Then she stood up; and pronouncing some words to me unintelligible, she said: âBy virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half man;â whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and neither dead nor alive. Moreover she ensorcelled the city with all its streets and garths, and she turned by her gramarye the four islands into four mountains around the tarn whereof thou questionest me; and the citizens, who were of four different faiths, Moslem, Nazarene, Jew and Magian, she transformed by her enchantments into fishes; the Moslems are the white, the Magians red, the Christians blue and the Jews yellow. And every day she tortureth me and scourgeth me with an hundred stripes, each of which draweth floods of blood and cutteth the skin of my trousers to strips; and lastly she clotheth my upper half with a hair-cloth and then throweth over them these robes.

Hereupon the young man again shed tears and began reciting:

âIn patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate;

I will bear at will of Thee whatsoever be my state:

They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe

Yet haply Heavenâs happiness shall compensate my strait:

Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate oâ foes

But Mustafa and Murtaza shall ope me Heavenâs gate.â

After this the Sultan turned towards the young Prince and said, âO youth, thou hast removed one grief only to add another grief; but now, O my friend, where is she; and where is the mausoleum wherein lieth the wounded slave?â âThe slave lieth under yon dome,â quoth the young man, âand she sitteth in the chamber fronting yonder door. And every day at sunrise she cometh forth, and first strippeth me, and whippeth me with an hundred strokes of the leathern scourge, and I weep and shriek; but there is no power of motion in my lower limbs to keep her off me. After ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave, bringing him wine and boiled meats. And tomorrow at an early hour she will be here.â

Quoth the King, âBy Allah, O youth I will assuredly do thee a good deed which the world shall not willingly let die, and an act of derring-do which shall be chronicled long after I am dead and gone by.â Then the King sat him by the side of the young Prince and talked till nightfall, when he lay down and slept; but, as soon as the false dawn showed, he arose and doffing his outer garments bared his blade and hastened to the place wherein lay the slave. Then was he ware of lighted candles and lamps, and perfume of incenses and unguents; and, directed by these, he made for the slave and struck him one stroke killing him on the spot: after which he lifted him on his back and threw him into a well that was in the palace.

Presently he returned and, donning the slaveâs gear, lay down at length within the mausoleum with the drawn sword laid close to and along his side. After an hour or so the accursed witch came; and, first going to her husband, she stripped off his clothes and, taking a whip, flogged him cruelly while he cried out, âAh! enough for me the case I am in! take pity on me, O my cousin!â But she replied, âDidst thou take pity on me and spare the life of my true love on whom I doated?â Then she drew the cilice over his raw and bleeding skin and threw the robe upon all and went down to the slave with a goblet of wine and a bowl of meat-broth in her hands. She entered under the dome weeping and wailing, âWell-away!â and crying, âO my lord! speak a word to me! O my master! talk awhile with me!â and began to recite these couplets:

âHow long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide?

Suffice thee not tear-floods thou hast espied?

Thou dost prolong our parting purposely

And if wouldst please my foe, thouârt satisfied!â

Then she wept again and said, âO my lord! speak to me, talk with me!â The King lowered his voice and, twisting his tongue, spoke after the fashion of the blackamoors and said, ââLack! âlack! there be no Maâesty and there be no Might save in Allauh, the Gloriose, the Great!â Now when she heard these words she shouted for joy, and fell to the ground fainting; and when her senses returned she asked, âO my lord, can it be true that thou hast power of speech?â and the King making his voice small and faint answered, âO my cuss! dost thou deserve that I talk to thee and speak with thee?â âWhy and wherefore?â rejoined she; and he replied, âThe why is that all the livelong day thou tormentest thy hubby; and he keeps calling on âeaven for aid until sleep is strange to me even from eveninâ till mawninâ, and he prays and damns, cussing us two, me and thee, causing me disquiet and much bother: were this not so, I should long ago have got my health; and it is this which prevents my answering thee.â Quoth she, âWith thy leave I will release him from what spell is on him;â and quoth the King, âRelease him and letâs have some rest!â

She cried, âTo hear is to obey;â and, going from the cenotaph to the palace, she took a metal bowl and filled it with water and spake over it certain words which made the contents bubble and boil as a cauldron seetheth over the fire. With this she sprinkled her husband saying, âBy virtue of the dread words I have spoken, if thou became thus by my spells, come forth out of that form into thine own former form.â And lo and behold! the young man shook and trembled; then he rose to his feet and, rejoicing at his deliverance, cried aloud, âI testify that there is no god but the God, and in very truth Mohammed is His Apostle, whom Allah bless and keep!â Then she said to him, âGo forth and return not hither, for if thou do I will surely slay thee;â screaming these words in his face. So he went from between her hands.

¹An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first cousin, the daughter of his fatherâs brother.

¹A preparation of hemp.

¹The rubbish heaps outside Eastern cities, some of which are over a hundred feet high.

CHAPTER 3 The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad

Once upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a bachelor and who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a certain day, as he stood about the street leaning idly upon his crate, behold, there stood before him an honourable woman in a mantilla of Mosul silk, broidered with gold and bordered with brocade; her walking-shoes were also purfled with gold and her hair floated in long plaits. She raised her face-veil and, showing two black eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose glances were soft and languishing and whose perfect beauty was ever blandishing, she accosted the Porter and said in the suavest tones and choicest language, âTake up thy crate and follow me.â The Porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard her aright, but he shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in himself, âO day of good luck! O day of Allahâs grace!â and walked after her till she stopped at the door of a house.

There she rapped, and presently came out to her an old man, a Nazarene, to whom she gave a gold piece, receiving from him in return what she required of strained wine clear as olive oil; and she set it safely in the hamper, saying, âLift and follow.â Quoth the Porter, âThis, by Allah, is indeed an auspicious day, a day propitious for the granting of all a man wisheth.â He again hoisted up the crate and followed her till she stopped at a fruiterâs shop and bought from him Shami apples and Osmani quinces and Omani peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and Egyptian limes and Sultani oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine jasmine, scented myrtle berries, Damascene nenuphars, flower of privet and camomile, blood-red anemones, violets, and pomegranate-bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set the whole in the Porterâs crate, saying, âUp with it.â So he lifted and followed her till she stopped at a butcherâs booth and said, âCut me off ten pounds of mutton.â

She paid him his price and he wrapped it in a banana-leaf, whereupon she laid it in the crate and said, âHoist, O Porter.â He hoisted accordingly, and followed her as she walked on till she stopped at a grocerâs, where she bought dry fruits and pistachio-kernels, Tihamah raisins, shelled almonds and all wanted for dessert, and said to the Porter, âLift and follow me.â

So he up with his hamper and after her till she stayed at the confectionerâs, and she bought an earthen platter, and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in his shop, open-worked tarts and fritters scented with musk and âsoap-cakesâ, and lemon leaves and melon-preserves, and âZaynabâs combsâ, and âladiesâ fingersâ, and âKaziâs tit-bitsâ and goodies of every description; and placed the platter in the Porterâs crate. Thereupon quoth he (being a merry man), âThou shouldest have told me, and I would have brought with me a pony or a she-camel to carry all this market-stuff.â She smiled and gave him a little cuff on the nape saying, âStep out and exceed not in words, for (Allah willing!) thy wage will not be wanting.â

Then she stopped at a perfumerâs and took from him ten sorts of waters, rose scented with musk, orange-flower, water-lily, willow-flower, violet and five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a bottle for perfume-spraying, a lump of male incense, aloe-wood, ambergris and musk, with candles of Alexandria wax; and she put the whole into the basket, saying, âUp with they crate and after me.â He did so and followed until she stood before the greengrocerâs, of whom she bought pickled safflower and olives, in brine and in oil; with tarragon and cream-cheese and hard Syrian cheese; and she stowed them away in the crate saying to the Porter, âTake up thy basket and follow me.â

He did so and went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a spacious court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength and grace: and the gate thereof had two leaves of ebony inlaid with plates of red gold. The lady stopped at the door and, turning her face-veil sideways, knocked softly with her knuckles whilst the Porter stood behind her, thinking of naught save her beauty and loveliness. Presently the door swung back and both leaves were opened, whereupon he looked to see who had opened it; and behold, it was a lady of tall figure, some five feet high; a model of beauty and loveliness, brilliance and symmetry and perfect grace.

Her forehead was flower-white; her cheeks like the anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of the wild heifer or the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent-moon which ends Shaâaban and begins Ramazan, her mouth was the ring of Sulayman, her lips coral-red, and her teeth like a line of strung pearls or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the antelopeâs, and her breasts, like two pomegranates of even size, stood at bay as it were, her body rose and fell in waves below her dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her navel would hold an ounce of benezoin ointment. In fine she was like her of whom the poet said:

On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight

Enjoy her flower-like face, her fragrant light:

Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black

Beauty encase a brow so purely white:

The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim

Though fail her name whose beauties we indite:

As sways her gait I smile at hips so big

And weep to see the waist they bear so slight.

When the Porter looked upon her his wits were waylaid, and his senses were stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his head, and he said to himself, âNever have I in my life seen a day more blessed than this day!â Then quoth the lady-portress to the lady-cateress, âCome in from the gate and relieve this poor man of his load.â So the provisioner went in followed by the Portress and the Porter and went on till they reached a spacious ground-floor hall, built with admirable skill and beautified with all manner of colours and carvings; with upper balconies and groined arches and galleries and cupboards and recesses whose curtains hung before them. In the midst stood a great basin of water surrounding a fine fountain, and at the upper end of the raised dais was a couch of juniper-wood set with gems and pearls, with a canopy like mosquito-curtains of red satin-silk looped up with pearls as big as filberts and bigger. Thereupon sat a lady bright of blee, with brow beaming brilliancy, the dream of philosophy, whose eyes were fraught with Babelâs gramarye and her eyebrows were arched as for archery; her breath breathed ambergris and perfumery and her lips were sugar to taste and carnelian to see.

Her stature was straight as the letter I, and her face shamed the noon-sunâs radiancy; and she was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden marquetry or a bride displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of Araby. Right well of her sang the bard when he said:

Her smiles twin rows of pearls display

Chamomile-buds or rimey spray

Her tresses stray as night let down

And shames her light the dawn oâ day.

The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with graceful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, when she said to her sisters, âWhy stand ye here? take it down from this poor manâs head!â Then the Cateress went and stood before him, and the Portress behind him while the third helped them, and they lifted the load from the Porterâs head; and, emptying it of all that was therein, set everything in its place. Lastly they gave him two gold pieces, saying, âWend thy ways, O Porter.â

But he went not, for he stood looking at the ladies and admiring what uncommon beauty was theirs, and their pleasant manners and kindly dispositions (never had he seen goodlier); and he gazed wistfully at that good store of wines and sweet-scented flowers and fruits and other matters. Also he marvelled with exceeding marvel, especially to see no man in the place and delayed his going; whereupon quoth the eldest lady, âWhat aileth thee that goest not; haply thy wage be too little?â And, turning to her sister the Cateress, she said, âGive him another dinar!â

But the Porter answered, âBy Allah, my lady, it is not for the wage; my hire is never more than two dirhams; but in very sooth my heart and my soul are taken up with you and your condition. I wonder to see you single with neâer a man about you and not a soul to bear you company; and well you wot that the minaret toppleth oâer unless it stand upon four, and you want this same fourth; and womenâs pleasure without man is short of measure, even as the poet said:

âSeest not we want for joy four things all told

The harp and lute, the flute and flageolet;

And be they companied with scents four-fold

Rose, myrtle, anemone and violet;

Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withold

Good wine and youth and gold and pretty pet.

âYou be three and want a fourth who shall be a person of good sense and prudence; smart-witted, and one apt to keep careful counsel.â His words pleased and amused them much; and they laughed at him and said, âAnd who is to assure us of that? We are maidens and we fear to entrust our secret where it may not be kept for we have read in a certain chronicle the lines of one Ibn al-Sumam:

âHold fast thy secret and to none unfold

Lost is a secret when that secretâs told:

An fail thy breast the secret to conceal

How canst thou hope anotherâs breast shall hold?

âAnd Abu Nowas said well on the same subject:

âWho trusteth secret to anotherâs hand

Upon his brow deserveth burn of brand!â

When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application addressed to them they said, âThou knowest that we have laid out all our moneys on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer us in return for entertainment? For surely we will not suffer thee to sit in our company and be our cup-companion, and gaze upon our faces so fair and so rare without paying a round sum. Wottest thou not the saying:

âSans hope of gain

Loveâs not worth a grain?â

Whereto the lady-Portress added, âIf thou bring anything thou art a something; if no thing, be off with thee thou art a nothing;â but the Procuratrix interposed, saying, âNay, O my sisters, leave teasing him, for by Allah he hath not failed us this day, and had he been other he never had kept patience with me, so whatever be his shot and scot I will take it upon myself.â The Porter, overjoyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her saying, âBy Allah, these moneys are the first fruits this day hath given me.â Hearing this they said, âSit thee down and welcome to thee,â and the eldest lady added, âBy Allah, we may not suffer thee to join us save on one condition, and this it is, that no questions be asked as to what concerneth thee not, and frowardness shall be soundly flogged.â Answered the Porter, âI agree to this, O my lady, on my head and my eyes be it! Look ye, I am dumb, I have no tongue.â Then arose the Provisioneress and tightening her girdle set the table by the fountain and put the flowers and sweet herbs in their jars and strained the wine and ranged the flasks in row and made ready every requisite.

Then she sat down, she and her sisters, placing amidst them the Porter who kept deeming himself in a dream; and she took up the wine flagon, and poured out the first cup and drank it off, and likewise a second and a third. After this she filled a fourth cup which she handed to one of her sisters; and, lastly, she crowned a goblet and passed it to the Porter, saying:

âDrink the dear draught, drink free and fain

What healeth every grief and pain.â

He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best thanks and improvised:

âDrain not the bowl save with a trusty friend

A man of worth whose good old blood all know:

For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet

And stinks when over stench it haply blow.â

Adding:

âDrain not the bowl, save from dear hand like thine

The cup recalls thy gifts; thou, gifts of wine.â

After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and was drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued:

âAll drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean

Doth hold save one, the bloodshed of the vine:

Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won

Thou fawn! a willing ransom for those eyne.â

Then the Cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the Portress who took it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she poured again and passed to the eldest lady who sat on the couch, and filled yet another and handed it to the Porter. He kissed the ground before them; and, after drinking and thanking them, he again began to recite:

âHere! Here! by Allah, here!

Cups of the sweet the dear!

Fill me a brimming bowl

The Fount oâ Life I speer.â

Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and said, âO lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, thy very bondsman;â and he began reciting:

âA slave of slaves there standeth at thy door

Lauding thy generous boons and gifts galore:

Beauty! may he come in awhile to joy

Thy charms? for Love and I part nevermore!â

She said to him, âDrink; and health and happiness attend thy drink.â So he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these lines in sing-song:

âI gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks

Blushed red or flame from furnace flaring up:

She bussed the brim and said with many a smile

How durst thou deal folkâs cheek for folk to sup?

âDrink!â (said I) âThese are tears of mine whose tinct

Is heart-blood sighs have boiled in the cup.ââ

She answered him in the following couplet:

âAnâ tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed

Suffer me sup them, by thy head and eyes!â

Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sistersâ health; and they ceased not drinking (the Porter being in the midst of them), and dancing and laughing and reciting verses and singing ballads and ritornellos. All this time the Porter was carrying on with them, kissing, toying, biting, handling, groping, fingering; whilst one thrust a dainty morsel in his mouth, and another slapped him; and this cuffed his cheeks, and that threw sweet flowers at him; and he was in the very paradise of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the seventh sphere among the Houris of Heaven. They ceased not doing after this fashion until the wine played tricks in their heads and worsted their wits; and, when the drink got the better of them, the Portress stood up and doffed her clothes till she was mother-naked. However, she let down her hair about her body by way of shift, and throwing herself into the basin disported herself and dived like a duck and swam up and down, and took water in her mouth, and spurted it all over the Porter, and washed her limbs, and between her breasts, and inside her thighs and all around her navel.

After that time the eldest and handsomest lady stood up and stripped off her garments, whereupon the Porter took his neck in hand, and rubbed and shampooâd it saying, âMy neck and shoulders are on the way of Allah!â Then she threw herself into the basin, and swam and dived, sported and washed; and the Porter looked at her naked figure as though she had been a slice of the moon and at her face with the sheen of Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it brighteneth, and he noted her noble stature and shape, and those glorious forms that quivered as she went; for she was naked as the Lord made her. Then he cried, âAlack! Alack! Alack!â and began to address her, versifying these couplets:

âIf I liken thy shape to the bough when green

My likeness errs and I sore mistake it;

For the bough is fairest when clad the most

And thou art fairest when mother-naked.â

Then laughed they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their carousal, and ceased not to be after this fashion till night began to fall. Thereupon said they to the Porter, âBismillah, O our master, up and on with those sorry old shoes of thine and turn thy face and show us the breadth of thy shoulders.â Said he, âBy Allah, to part with my soul would be easier for me than departing from you: come let us join night to day, and tomorrow morning we will each wend our own way.â âMy life on you,â said the Procuratrix, âsuffer him to tarry with us, that we may laugh at him: we may live out our lives and never meet with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and a witty.â So they said, âThou must not remain with us this night save on condition that thou submit to our commands, and that whatso thou seest, thou ask no questions therenent, nor inquire of its cause.â âAll right,â rejoined he, and they said, âGo read the writing over the door.â So he rose and went to the entrance and there found written in letters of gold wash; WHOSE SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASE HIM NOT! The Porter said, âBe ye witnesses against me that I will not speak on whatso concerneth me not.â Then the Cateress arose, and set food before them and they ate; after which they changed their drinking-place for another, and she lighted the lamps and candles and burned ambergris and aloes-wood, and set on fresh fruit and the wine service, when they fell to carousing and talking of their lovers.

And they ceased not to eat and drink and chat, nibbling dry fruits and laughing and playing tricks for the space of a full hour when lo! a knock was heard at the gate. The knocking in no wise disturbed the seance, but one of them rose and went to see what it was and presently returned, saying, âTruly our pleasure for this night is to be perfect.â âHow is that?â asked they; and she answered, âAt the gate be three Persian Kalandars¹ with their beards and heads and eyebrows shaven; and all three blind of the left eye â which is surely a strange chance. They are foreigners from Roum-land with the mark of travel plain upon them; they have just entered Baghdad, this being their first visit to our city; and the cause of their knocking at our door is simply because they cannot find a lodging. Indeed one of them said to me: âHaply the owner of this mansion will let us have the key of his stable or some old out-house wherein we may pass this night?â for evening had surprised them and, being strangers in the land, they knew none who would give them shelter. And, O my sisters, each of them is a figure oâ fun after his own fashion; and if we let them in we shall have matter to make sport of.â

She gave not over persuading them till they said to her, âLet them in, and make thou the usual condition with them that they speak not of what concerneth them not, lest they hear what pleaseth them not.â So she rejoiced and going to the door presently returned with the three monoculars whose beards and mustachios were clean shaven. They salamâd and stood afar off by way of respect; but the three ladies rose up to them and welcomed them and wished them joy of their safe arrival and made them sit down. The Kalandars looked at the room and saw that it was a pleasant place, clean swept and garnished with flowers; and the lamps were burning and the smoke of perfumes was spireing in air; and beside the dessert and fruits and wine, there were three fair girls who might be maidens; so they exclaimed with one voice, âBy Allah, âtis good!â

Then they turned to the Porter and saw that he was a merry-faced wight, albeit he was by no means sober and was sore after his slappings. So they thought that he was one of themselves and said, âA mendicant like us! whether Arab or foreigner.â But when the Porter heard these words, he rose up, and fixing his eyes fiercely upon them, said, âSit ye here without exceeding in talk! Have you not read what is writ over the door? Surely it befitteth not fellows who come to us like paupers to way your tongues at us.â âWe crave thy pardon, O Fakir,â rejoined they, âand our heads are between thy hands.â The ladies laughed consumedly at the squabble; and, making peace between the Kalandars and the Porter, seated the new guests before meat and they ate.

Then they sat together, and the Portress served them with drink; and, as the cup went round merrily, quoth the Porter to the askers, âAnd you, O brothers mine, have ye no story or rare adventure to amuse us withal?â Now the warmth of wine having mounted to their heads they called for musical instruments; and the Portress brought them a tambourine of Mosul, and a lute of Irak, and a Persian harp; and each mendicant took one and tuned it; this the tambourine and those the lute and the harp, and struck up a merry tune while the ladies sang so lustily that there was a great noise.

And whilst they were carrying on, behold, someone knocked at the gate, and the Portress went to see what was the matter there. Now the cause of that knocking, O King was this, the Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, had gone forth from the palace, as was his wont now and then, to solace himself in the city that night, and to see and hear what new thing was stirring; he was in merchantâs gear, and he was attended by Jaâafar, his Wazir, and by Masrur, his Sworder of Vengeance. As they walked about the city, their way led them towards the house of the three ladies; where they heard the loud noise of musical instruments and singing and merriment; so quoth the Caliph to Jaâafar, âI long to enter this house and hear those songs and see who sings them.â

Quoth Jaâafar, âO Prince of the Faithful; these folk are surely drunk with wine, and I fear some mischief betide us if we get amongst them.â âThere is no help but that I go in there,â replied the Caliph, âand I desire thee to contrive some pretext for our appearing among them.â Jaâafar replied, âI hear and I obey;â and knocked at the door, whereupon the Portress came out and opened. Then Jaâafar came forward and kissing the ground before her said, âO my lady, we be merchants from Tiberias-town: we arrived at Baghdad ten days ago; and, alighting at the merchantsâ caravan-serai, we sold all our merchandise. Now a certain trader invited us to an entertainment this night; so we went to his house and he set food before us and we ate: then we sat at wine and wassail with him for an hour or so when he gave us leave to depart; and we went out from him in the shadow of the night and, being strangers, we could not find our way back to our Khan. So haply of your kindness and courtesy you will suffer us to tarry with you this night, and Heaven will reward you!â

The Portress looked upon them and seeing them dressed like merchants and men of grave looks and solid, she returned to her sisters and repeated to them Jaâafarâs story; and they took compassion upon the strangers and said to her, âLet them enter.â She opened the door to them, when said they to her, âHave we thy leave to come in?â âCome in,â quoth she; and the Caliph entered followed by Jaâafar and Masrur; and when the girls saw them they stood up to them in respect and made them sit down and looked to their wants, saying, âWelcome, and well come and good cheer to the guests, but with one condition!â âWhat is that?â asked they, and one of the ladies answered, âSpeak not of what concerneth you not, lest ye hear what pleaseth you not.â âEven so,â said they; and sat down to their wine and drank deep.

Presently the Caliph looked on the three Kalandars and, seeing them each and every blind of the left eye, wondered at the sight; then he gazed upon the girls and he was startled and he marvelled with exceeding marvel at their beauty and loveliness. They continued to carouse and to converse and said to the Caliph, âDrink!â but he replied, âI am vowed to Pilgrimageâ¹ and drew back from the wine. Thereupon the Portress rose and spreading before him a table-cloth worked with gold, set thereon a porcelain bowl into which she poured willow flower water with a lump of snow and a spoonful of sugar-candy. The Caliph thanked her and said in himself, âBy Allah, I will recompense her tomorrow for the kind deed she hath done.â The others again addressed themselves to conversing and carousing; and, when the wine gat the better of them, the eldest lady who ruled the house rose and making obeisance to them took the Cateress by the hand, and said, âRise, O my sister and let us do what is our devoir.â Both answered âEven so!â

Then the Portress stood up and proceeded to remove the table service and the remnants of the banquet; and renewed the pastilles and cleared the middle of the saloon. Then she made the Kalandars sit upon a sofa at the side of the estrade, and seated the Caliph and Jaâafar and Masrur on the other side of the saloon; after which she called the Porter, and said, âHow scant is thy courtesy! now thou art no stranger; nay, thou art one of the household.â So he stood up and, tightening his waist-cloth, asked, âWhat would ye I do?â and she answered, âStand in this place.â Then the Procuratrix rose and set in the midst of the saloon a low chair and, opening a closet, cried to the Porter, âCome help me.â So he went to help her and saw two black bitches with chains round their necks; and she said to him, âTake hold of them;â and he took them and led them into the middle of the saloon.

Then the lady of the house arose and tucked up her sleeves above her wrists and, seizing a scourge, said to the Porter, âBring forward one of the bitches.â He brought her forward, dragging her by the chain, while the bitch wept, and shook her head at the lady who, however, came down upon her with blows on the sconce; and the bitch howled and the lady ceased not beating her till her forearm failed her. Then, casting the scourge from her hand, she pressed the bitch to her bosom and, wiping away her tears with her hands, kissed her head.

Then said she to the Porter, âTake her away and bring the second;â and, when he brought her, she did with her as she had done with the first. Now the heart of the Caliph was touched at these cruel doings; his chest straitened and he lost all patience in his desire to know why the two bitches were so beaten. He threw a wink at Jaâafar wishing him to ask, but the Minister turning towards him said by signs, âBe silent!â

Then quoth the Portress to the mistress of the house, âO my lady, arise and go to thy place that I in turn may do my devoir.â She answered, âEven soâ; and, taking her seat upon the couch of juniper-wood, pargeted with gold and silver, said to the Portress and Cateress, âNow do ye what ye have to do.â Thereupon the Portress sat upon a low seat by the couch side; but the Procuratirx, entering a closet, brought out of it a bag of satin with green fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood up before the lady of the house and shaking the bag drew out from it a lute which she tuned by tightening its pegs; and when it was in perfect order, she began to sing these quatrains:

âYe are the wish, the aim of me

And when, O love, thy sight I see

The heavenly mansion openeth;

But Hell I see when lost thy sight

From thee comes madness; nor the less

Comes highest joy, comes ecstasy:

Nor in my love for thee I fear

Or shame and blame, or hate and spite

When Love was throned within my heart

I rent the veil of modesty;

And stints not Love to rend that veil

Garring disgrace on grace to alight;

The robe of sickness then I donned

But rent to rags was secrecy:

Wherefore my love and longing heart

Proclaim your high supremest might;

The tear-drop railing adown my cheek

Telleth my tale of ignomy:

And all the hid was seen by all

And all my riddle reeâd aright

Heal then my malady, for thou

Art malady and remedy!

But she whose cure is in thy hand

Shall neâer be free of bane and blight;

Burn me those eyne that radiance rain

Slay me the swords of phantasy:

How many hath the sword of Love

Laid low, their high degree despite?

Yet will I never cease to pine

Nor to oblivion will I flee.

Love is my health, my faith, my joy

Public and private, wrong or right.

O happy eyes that sight thy charms

That gaze upon thee at their gree!

Yea, of my purest wish and will

The slave of Love Iâll aye be hight.â

When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out âAlas! Alas!â and rent her raiment, and fell to the ground fainting; and the Caliph saw scars of the palm-rod on her back and welts of the whip; and marvelled with exceeding wonder. Then the Portress arose and sprinkled water on her and brought her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on her. But when the company beheld these doings their minds were troubled, for they had no inkling of the case nor knew the story thereof; so the Caliph said to Jaâafar, âDisdât thou not see the scars upon the damselâs body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I learn the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and the secret of the two black bitches.â

But Jaâafar answered, âO our lord, they made it a condition with us that we speak not of what concerneth us not, lest we come to hear what pleaseth us not.â Then said the Portress, âBy Allah, O my sister, come to me and complete this service for me.â Replied the Procuratrix, âWith joy and goodly gree;â so she took the lute; and leaned it against her breasts and swept the strings with her finger-tips, and began singing:

âGive back mine eyes their sleep long ravished

And say me wither be my reason fled:

I learnt that lending to thy love a place

Sleep to mine eyelids mortal foe was made.

They said, âWe held thee righteous, who waylaid

Thy soulâ âGo ask his glorious eyes,â I said.

I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill

Owning his troubles drove him blood to shed.

On my mindâs mirror sun-like sheen he cast

Whose keen reflection fire in vitals bred:

Waters of Life let Allah waste at will

Suffice my wage those lips of dewy red:

An thou address my love thouâlt find a cause

For plaint and tears or ruth or lustihed.

In water pure his form shall greet your eyne

When fails the bowl nor need ye drink of wine.â

Then she quoted from the same ode:

âI drank, but the draught of his glands, nor wine;

And his swaying gait swayed to sleep these eyne:

âTwas not grape-juice gript me but grasp of Past

âTwas not bowl oâerbowled me but gifts divine:

His coiling cur-lets my soul ennetted

And his cruel will all my wits outwitted.â

After a pause she resumed:

âIf we âplain of absence what shall we say?

Or if pain afflict us where wend our way?

An hire a truckman to tell my tale

The loversâ plaint is not told for pay:

If I put on patience, a loverâs life

After loss of love will not last a day:

Naught is left me now by regret, repine

And tears flooding cheeks for ever and aye:

O thou who the babes of these eyes hast fled

Thou art homed in heart that shall never stray:

Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact

Long as stream shall flow, to have firmest fay?

Or hast forgotten the weeping slave

Whom groans afflict and whom griefs waylay?

Ah, when severance ends and we side by side

Couch, Iâll blame thy rigours and chide thy pride.â

Now when the Portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud and said, âBy Allah! âtis right good!â and laying hands on her garments tore them, as she did the first time, and fell to the ground fainting. Thereupon the Procuratrix rose and brought her a second change of clothes after she had sprinkled water on her. She recovered and sat upright and said to her sister the Cateress,

âOnwards, and help me in my duty, for there remains but this one song.â So the Provisioneress again brought out the lute and began to sing these verses:

âHow long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe

May not suffice thee all these tears thou seest flow?

Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong.

Isât not enough to glad the heart of envious foe?

Were but this lying world once true to lover-heart

He had not watched the weary night in tears of woe:

Oh pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will

My lord, my king, âtis time some ruth to me thou show:

To whom reveal my wrongs who murdered me?

Sad, who of broken troth the pangs must undergo!

Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour

And days of exile minute by so long, so slow;

O Moslems, claim vendetta for this slave of Love

Whose sleep Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low:

Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie

Lapt in anotherâs arms and unto me cry âGo!?â

Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy

When he I love but works my love to overthrow?â

When the Portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and, laying hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt and fell to the ground fainting a third time, again showing the scars of the scourge. Then said the three Kalandars âWould heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather nighted on the mounds and heaps outside the city! for verily our visit hath been troubled by sights which cut to the heart.â The Caliph turned to them and asked, âWhy so?â and they made answer, âOur minds are sore troubled by this matter.â Quoth the Caliph, âAre ye not of the household?â and quoth they, âNo; nor indeed did we ever set eyes on the place till within this hour.â

Hereat the Caliph marvelled and rejoined, âThis man who sitteth by you, would he not know the secret of the matter?â and so saying he winked and made signs at the Porter. So they questioned the man and he replied, âBy the All-might of Allah, in love all are alike! I am the growth of Baghdad, yet never in my born days did I darken these doors till today and my companying with them was a curious matter.â âBy Allah,â they rejoined, âwe took thee for one of them and now we see thou art one like ourselvesâ Then said the Caliph, âWe be seven men, and they only three women without even a fourth to help them; so let us question them of their case; and, if they answer us not, fain we will be answered by force.â All of them agreed to this except Jaâafar who said, âThis is not my reckoning; let them be; for we are their guests and, as ye know, they made a compact and condition with us which we accepted and promised to keep: wherefore it is better that we be silent concerning this matter; and, as but little of the night remaineth, let each and every of us gang his own gait.â Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him, âThere is but one hour of darkness left and I can bring them before thee tomorrow, when thou canst freely question them all concerning their story.â But the Caliph raised his head haughtily and cried out at him in wrath, saying, âI have no patience left for my longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them forthright.â Quoth Jaâafar, âThis is not my rede.â

Then words ran high and talk answered talk; and they disputed as to who should first put the question, but at last all fixed upon the Porter. And as the jangle increased the house-mistress could not but notice it and asked them, âO ye folk! on what matter are ye talking so loudly?â Then the Porter stood up respectfully before her and said, âO my lady this company earnestly desire that thou acquaint them with the story of the two bitches and what maketh thee punish them so cruelly; and then thou fallest to weeping over them and kissing them; and lastly they want to hear the tale of thy sister and why she hath been bastinadoâd with palm-sticks like a man. These are the questions they charge me to put, and peace be with thee.â

Thereupon quoth she who was the lady of the house to the guests, âIs this true that he saith on your part?â and all replied, âYes!â save Jaâafar who kept silence. When she heard these words she cried, âBy Allah, ye have wronged us, O our guests, with grievous wronging; for when you came before us we made compact and condition with you, that whoso should speak of what concerneth him not should hear what pleaseth him not. Sufficeth ye not that we took you into our house and fed you with our best food? But the fault is not so much yours as hers who let you in.â Then she tucked up her sleeves from her wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand crying, âCome ye quickly;â and lo! a closet door opened and out of it came seven negro slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom she said, âPinion me those pratersâ elbows and bind them each to each.â

They did her bidding and asked her, âO veiled and virtuous! is it thy high command that we strike off their heads?â but she answered, âLeave them awhile that I question them of their condition, before their necks feel the sword.â âBy Allah, O my lady!â cried the Porter, âslay me not for anotherâs sin; all these men offended and deserve the penalty of crime save myself. Now by Allah, our night had been charming had we escaped the mortification of those monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a populous city would convert it into a howling wilderness.â Then he repeated these verses:

âHow fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother!

And fairest fair when shown to weakest brother.

By Loveâs own holy tie between us twain,

Let one not suffer for the sin of other.â

When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed.

¹Mendicant Monks.

¹Wine-drinking, at all times forbidden to Moslems, vitiates the Pilgrimage-rite.

CHAPTER 4 The Hunchbackâs Tale

It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there dwelt during times of yore, and years and ages long gone before, in a certain city of China, a Tailor who was an open-handed man that loved pleasuring and merry-making; and who was wont, he and his wife, to solace themselves from time to time with public diversions and amusements. One day they went out with the first of the light and were returning in the evening when they fell in with a Hunchback, whose semblance would draw a laugh from care and dispel the horrors of despair. So they went up to enjoy looking at him and invited him to go home with them and converse and carouse with them that night.

He consented and accompanied them afoot to their home; whereupon the Tailor fared forth to the bazar (night having just set in) and bought a fried fish and bread and lemons and dry sweetmeats for dessert; and set the victuals before the Hunchback and they ate. Presently the Tailorâs wife took a great fid of fish and gave it in a gobbet to the Gobbo, stopping his mouth with her hand and saying, âBy Allah, thou must down it with a single gulp; and I will not give thee time to chew it.â So he bolted it; but therein was a stiff bone which stuck in his gullet, and, his hour being come, he died.

Seeing this the Tailor cried aloud. âThere is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Alas, that this poor wretch should have died in so foolish fashion at our hands!â and the woman rejoined, âWhy this idle talk? Hast thou not heard his saying who said:

âWhy then waste I my time in grief, until

I find no friend to bear my weight of woe?

How sleep upon a fire that flames unquenches?

Upon the flames to rest were hard enow!â

Asked her husband, âAnd what shall I do with him?â and she answered, âRise and take him in thine arms and spread a silken kerchief over him; then I will fare forth, with thee following me, this very night and if thou meet anyone say: âThis is my son, and his mother and I are carrying him to the doctor that he may look at him.ââ So he rose and taking the Hunchback in his arms bore him along the streets, preceded by his wife who kept crying, âO my son, Allah keep thee! what part paineth thee and where hath this small-pox attacked thee?â So all who saw them said, ââTis a child sick of small-pox.â They went along asking for the physicianâs house till folk directed them to that of a leech which was a Jew.

They knocked at the door, and there came down to them a black slave-girl who opened and, seeing a man bearing a babe, and a woman with him, said to them, âWhat is the matter?â âWe have a little one with us,â answered the Tailorâs wife, âand we wish to show him to the physician: so take this quarter-dinar and give it to thy master and let him come down and see my son who is sore sick.â The girl went up to tell her master, whereupon the Tailorâs wife walked into the vestibule and said to her husband, âLeave the Hunchback here and let us fly for our lives.â So the Tailor carried the dead man to the top of the stairs and propped him upright against the wall and ran away, he and his wife. Meanwhile the girl went in to the Jew and said to him, âAt the door are a man and a woman with a sick child and they have given me a quarter-dinar for thee, that thou mayest go down and look at the little one and prescribe for it.â

As soon as the Jew saw the quarter-dinar he rejoiced and rose quickly in his greed of gain and went forth hurriedly in the dark; but hardly had he made a step when he stumbled on the corpse and threw it over, when it rolled to the bottom of the staircase. So he cried out to the girl to hurry up with the light, and she brought it, whereupon he went down and examining the Hunchback found that he was stone dead. So he cried out, âO for Esdras! O for Moses! O for Aaron! O for Joshua, son of Nun! O the Ten Commandments! I have stumbled against the sick one and he hath fallen downstairs and he is dead! How shall I get this man I have killed out of my house? O by the hoofs of the ass of Esdras!â Then he took up the body and, carrying it into the house, told his wife what had happened and she said to him, âWhy dost thou sit still? If thou keep him here till daybreak we shall both lose our lives. Let us two carry him to the terrace-roof and throw him over into the house of our neighbour, the Moslem, for if he abide there a night the dogs will come down on him from the adjoining terraces and eat him up.â

Now his neighbour was a Reeve, the controller of the Sultanâs kitchen, and was wont to bring back great store of oil and fat and broken meats; but the cats and rats used to eat it, or, if the dogs scented a fat sheepâs tail they would come down from the nearest roofs and tear at it; and on this wise the beasts had already damaged much of what he brought home. So the Jew and his wife carried the Hunchback up to the roof; and, letting him down by his hands and feet through the wind-shaft into the Reeveâs house, propped him up against the wall and went their ways. Hardly had they done this when the Reeve, who had been passing an evening with his friends hearing a recitation of the Koran, came home and opened the door and, going up with a lighted candle, found a son of Adam standing in the corner under the ventilator. When he saw this, he said, âWah! By Allah, very good forsooth! He who robbeth my stuff is none other than a man.â Then he turned to the Hunchback and said, âSo âtis thou that stealest the meat and the fat! I thought it was the cats and dogs, and I kill the dogs and cats of the quarter and sin against them by killing them. And all the while âtis thou comest down from the house terrace through the wind-shaft. But I will avenge myself upon thee with my own hand!â

So he snatched up a heavy hammer and set upon him and smote him full on the breast and he fell down. Then he examined him and, finding that he was dead, cried out in horror, thinking that he had killed him, and said, âThere is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!â And he feared for his life, and added, âAllah curse the oil and the meat and the grease and the sheepâs tails to boot! How hath fate given this man his quietus at my hand!â Then he looked at the body and seeing it was that of a Gobbo, said, âWas it not enough for thee to be a hunchback, but thou must likewise be a thief and prig flesh and fat! O thou Veiler, deign to veil me with Thy curtain of concealment!â So he took him upon his shoulders and, going forth with him from his house about the latter end of the night, carried him to the nearest end of the bazar, where he set him up on his feet against the wall of a shop at the head of a dark lane, and left him and went away.

After a while up came a Nazarene, the Sultanâs Broker who, much bemused with liquor, was purposing for the Hammambath as his drunkenness whispered in his ear, âVerily the call to matins is nigh.â He came plodding along and staggering about till he drew near the Hunchback and squatted down to make water over against him; when he happened to glance around and saw a man standing against the wall. Now some person had snatched off the Christianâs turband in the first of the night; so when he saw the Hunchback hard by he fancied that he also meant to steal his head-dress.

There upon he clenched his fist and struck him on the neck, felling him to the ground, and called aloud to the watchman of the bazar, and came down on the body in his drunken fury and kept on belabouring and throttling the corpse. Presently the Charley came up and, finding a Nazarene kneeling on a Moslem and frapping him, asked, âWhat harm hath this one done?â And the Broker answered, âThe fellow meant to snatch off my turband.â âGet up from him,â quoth the watchman. So he arose and the Charley went up to the Hunchback and finding him dead, exclaimed, âBy Allah, good indeed! A Christian killing a Mahometan!â

Then he seized the Broker and, tying his hands behind his back, carried him to the Governorâs house, and all the while the Nazarene kept saying to himself, âO Messiah! O Virgin! how came I to kill this fellow? And in what a hurry he must have been to depart this life when he died of a single blow!â Presently, as his drunkenness fled, came dolour in its stead. So the Broker and the body were kept in the Governorâs place till morning morrowed, when the Wali came out and gave order to hang the supposed murderer and commanded the executioner make proclamation of the sentence.

Forthwith they set up a gallows under which they made the Nazarene stand and the torch-bearer, who was hangman, threw the rope round his neck and passed one end through the pulley, and was about to hoist him up when lo! the Reeve, who was passing by, saw the Broker about to be hanged; and, making his way through the people, cried out to the executioner, âHold! Hold! I am he who killed the Hunchback!â Asked the Governor. âWhat made thee kill him?â and he answered. âI went home last night and there found this man who had come down the ventilator to steal my property; so I smote him with a hammer on the breast and he died forthright. Then I took him up and carried him to the bazar and set him up against the wall in such a place near such a laneâ; adding, âIs it not enough for me to have killed a Moslem without also killing a Christian? So hang none other but me.â

When the Governor heard these words he released the Broker and said to the torchbearer, âHang up this man on his own confession.â So he loosed the cord from the Nazareneâs neck and threw it round that of the Reeve and, making him stand under the gallows-tree, was about to string him up when behold, the Jewish physician pushed through the people and shouted to the executioner, âHold! Hold! It was I and none else killed the Hunchback! Last night I was sitting at home when a man and a woman knocked at the door carrying this Gobbo who was sick, and gave my handmaid a quarter-dinar, bidding her hand me the fee and tell me to come down and see him. Whilst she was gone the man and the woman brought him into the house and, setting him on the stairs, went away: and presently I came down and not seeing him, for I was in the dark, stumbled over him and he fell to the foot of the staircase and died on the moment. Then we took him up, I and my wife, and carried him on to the top terrace; and, the house of this Reeve being next door to mine, we let the body down through the ventilator. When he came home and found the Hunchback in his house, he fancied he was a thief and struck him with a hammer, so that he fell to the ground, and our neighbour made certain that he had slain him. Now it is not enough for me to have killed one Moslem unwittingly, without burdening myself with taking the life of another Moslem wittingly?â

When the Governor heard this he said to the hangman, âSet free the Reeve, and hang the Jew.â Thereupon the torch-bearer took him and slung the cord round his neck when behold, the Tailor pushed through the people, and shouted to the executioner, âHold! Hold! It was I and none else killed the Hunchback; and this was the fashion thereof. I had been out a-pleasuring yesterday and, coming back to supper, fell in with this Gobbo, who was drunk and drumming away and singing lustily to his tambourine. So I accosted him and carried him to my house and bought a fish, and we sat down to eat. Presently my wife took a fid of fish, and, making a gobbet of it crammed it into his mouth; but some of it went down the wrong way or stuck in his gullet and he died on the instant. So we lifted him up, I and my wife, and carried him to the Jewâs house where the slave-girl came down and opened the door to us and I said to her: âTell thy master that there are a man and a woman and a sick person for thee to see!â I gave her a quarter-dinar and she went up to tell her master; and, whilst she was gone, I carried the Hunchback to the head of the staircase and propped him up against the wall, and went off with my wife. When the Jew came down he stumbled over him and thought that he had killed him.â

Then he asked the Jew, âIs this the truth?â and the Jew answered, âYes.â Thereupon the Tailor turned to the Governor and said, âLeave go the Jew and hang me.â When the Governor heard the Tailorâs tale he marvelled at the matter of this Hunchback and exclaimed, âVerily this is an adventure which should be recorded in books!â Then he said to the hangman, âLet the Jew go and hang the Tailor on his own confession.â The executioner took the Tailor and put the rope around his neck and said, âI am tired of such slow work; we bring out this one and change him for that other, and no one is hanged after all!â

Now the Hunchback in question was, they relate, jester to the Sultan of China who could not bear him out of his sight; so when the fellow got drunk and did not make his appearance that night or the next day till noon, the Sultan asked some of his courtiers about him and they answered, âO our lord, the Governor hath come upon him dead and hath ordered his murderer to be hanged; but, as the hangman was about to hoist him up there came a second and a third and a fourth and each one said: âIt is I and none else killed the Hunchback!â And each gave a full and circumstantial account of the manner of the jester being killed.â

When the King heard this he cried aloud to the Chamberlain-in-waiting, âGo down to the Governor and bring me all four of them.â So the Chamberlain went down at once to the place of execution, where he found the torch-bearer on the point of hanging the Tailor and shouted to him, âHold! Hold!â Then he gave the Kingâs command to the Governor who took the Tailor, the Jew, the Nazarene and the Reeve (the Hunchbackâs body being borne on menâs shoulders) and went up with one and all of them to the King. When he came into the presence, he kissed the ground and acquainted the ruler with the whole story which it is needless to relate for, as they say: There is no avail in a thrice-told tale. The Sultan hearing it marvelled and was moved to mirth and commanded the story to be written in letters of liquid gold, saying to those present, âDid ye ever hear a more wondrous tale than that of my Hunchback?â

CHAPTER 5 The Tale of Nur Al-Din Ali and His Son Badr Al-Din Hasan

Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of yore the land of Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and generosity; one who loved the pious poor and companied with the Olema and learned men; and he had a Wazir, a wise and an experienced, well versed in affairs and in the art of government. This Minister, who was a very old man, had two sons, as they were two moons; never man saw the like of them for beauty and grace, the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and pleasing semblance, so that folk heard his fame in far countries and men flocked to Egypt for the purpose of seeing him. In course of time their father, the Wazir died and was deeply regretted and mourned by the Sultan, who sent for his two sons and, investing them with dresses of honour, said to them, âLet not your hearts be troubled, for ye shall stand in your fatherâs stead and be joint Ministers of Egypt.â

At this they rejoiced and kissed the ground before him and performed the ceremonial mourning for their father during a full month; after which time they entered upon the Wazirate, and the power passed into their hands as it had been in the hands of their father, each doing duty for a week at a time. They lived under the same roof and their word was one; and whenever the Sultan desired to travel they took it by turns to be in attendance on him.

It fortuned one night that the Sultan purposed setting out on a journey next morning, and the elder, whose turn it was to accompany him, was sitting conversing with his brother and said to him, âO my brother, it is my wish that we both marry, I and thou, two sisters; and go in to our wives on one and the same night.â âDo, O my brother, as thou desirest,â the younger replied, âfor right is thy recking and surely I will comply with thee in whatso thou sayest.â So they agreed upon this and quoth Shams al-Din, âIf Allah decree that we marry two damsels and go in to them on the same night, and they shall conceive on their bride-nights and bear children to us on the same day, and by Allahâs will thy wife bear thee a son and my wife bear me a daughter, let us wed them either to other, for they will be cousins.â Quoth Nur al-Din, âO my brother, Shams al-Din, what dower wilt thou require from my son for thy daughter?â

Quoth Shams al-Din, âI will take three thousand dinars and three pleasure gardens and three farms; and it would not be seemly that the youth make contract for less than this.â When Nur al-Din heard such demand he said. âWhat manner of dower is this thou wouldest impose on my son? Wottest thou not that we are brothers and both by Allahâs grace Wazirs and equal in office? It behoveth thee to offer thy daughter to my son without marriage settlement; or, if one need be, it should represent a mere nominal value by way of show to the world: for thou knowest that the masculine is worthier than the feminine, and my son is a male and our memory will be preserved by him not by thy daughter.â âBut what,â said Shams al-Din, âis she to have?â And Nur al-Din continued. âThrough her we shall not be remembered among the Emirs of the earth; but I see thou wouldest do with me according to the saying: An thou wouldest bluff off a buyer, ask him high price and higher; or as did a man who, they say, went to a friend and asked something of him in necessity and was answered: âBismillah, in the name of Allah, I will do all what thou requirest but come tomorrow!â Whereupon the other replied in this verse:

ââWhen he who is asked a favour saith âTomorrowâ,

The wise man wots âtis vain to beg or borrow.ââ

Quoth Shams al-Din, âBasta! I see thee fail in respect to me by making thy son of more account than my daughter; and âtis plain that thine understanding is of the meanest and that thou lackest manners. Thou remindest me of thy partnership in the Wazirate, when I admitted thee to share with me only in pity for thee, and not wishing to mortify thee; and that thou mightest help me as a manner of assistant. But since thou talkest on this wise, by Allah, I will never marry my daughter to thy son; no, not for her weight in gold!â When Nur al-Din heard his brotherâs words he waxed wroth and said, âAnd I too, I will never, never marry my son to thy daughter; no, not to keep from my lips the cup of death.â Shams al-Din replied, âI would not accept him as a husband for her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail. Were I not about to travel I would make an example of thee; however when I return thou shalt see, and I will show thee, how I can assert my dignity and vindicate my honour. But Allah doeth whatso He willeth.â

When Nur al-Din heard this speech from his brother, he was filled with fury and lost his wits for rage; but he hid what he felt and held his peace; and each of the brothers passed the night in a place far apart, wild with wrath against the other. As soon as morning dawned the Sultan fared forth in state and crossed over from Cairo to Jizah and made for the Pyramids, accompanied by the Wazir Shams al-Din, whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother Nur al-Din, who passed the night in sore rage, rose with the light and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then he betook himself to his treasury and, taking a small pair of saddle-bags, filled them with gold; and he called to mind his brotherâs threats and the contempt wherewith he had treated him, and he repeated these couplets:

âTravel! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left behind;

Toil! for the sweets of human life by toil and moil are found:

The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains buant;

So leave thy place of birth and wander all the world around!

Iâve seen, and very oft Iâve seen, how standing water stinks,

And only flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound:

And were the moon for ever full and neâer to wax or wane,

Man would not strain his watchful eyes to see its gladsome round:

Except the lion leave his lair he neâer would fell his game;

Except the arrow leave the bow neâer had it reached its bound:

Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine,

And aloes-wood mere fuel is upon its native ground:

And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoalâd;

And aloes sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold.â

When he ended his verse he bade one of his pages saddle him his Nubian mare-mule with her padded selle. Now she was a dapple-grey with ears like reed-pens and legs like columns and a back high and strong as a dome builded on pillars; her saddle was of gold-cloth and her stirrups of Indian steel, and her housing of Ispahan velvet; she had trappings which would serve the ChosroÃ«s, and she was like a bride adorned for her wedding night. Moreover he bade lay on her back a piece of silk for a seat, and a prayer-carpet under which were his saddle-bags. When this was done he said to his pages and slaves, âI purpose going forth apleasuring outside the city on the road to Kalyub-town, and I shall lie three nights abroad; so let none of you follow me, for there is something straiteneth my breast.â

Then he mounted the mule in haste; and, taking with him some provaunt for the way, set out from Cairo and faced the open and uncultivated country laying around it. About noontide he entered Bilbays-city, where he dismounted and stayed a while to rest himself and his mule and ate some of his victual. He bought at Bilbays all he wanted for himself and forage for his mule and then fared on the way of the waste. Towards nightfall he entered a town called Saâadiyah where he alighted and took out somewhat of his viaticum and ate; then he spread his strip of silk on the sand and set the saddle-bags under his head and slept in the open air; for he was still overcome with anger. When morning dawned he mounted and rode onward till he reached the Holy City, Jerusalem, and thence he made Aleppo, where he dismounted at one of the caravanserais and abode three days to rest himself and the mule and to smell the air. Then, being determined to travel afar and Allah having written safety in his fate, he set out again, wending without wotting whither he was going; and, having fallen in with certain couriers, he stinted not travelling till he had reached Bassorah-city albeit he knew not what the place was.

It was dark night when he alighted at the Khan, so he spread out his prayer-carpet and took down the saddle-bags from the back of the mule and gave her with her furniture in charge of the door-keeper that he might walk her about. The man took her and did as he was bid. Now it so happened that the Wazir of Bassorah, a man shot in years, was sitting at the lattice-window of his palace opposite the Khan and he saw the porter walking the mule up and down. He was struck by her trappings of price and thought her a nice beast fit for the riding of Wazirs or even of royalties; and the more he looked the more he was perplexed till at last he said to one of his pages, âBring hither yon door-keeper.â

The page went and returned to the Wazir with the porter who kissed the ground between his hands, and the Minister asked him, âWho is the owner of yonder mule and what manner of man is he?â and he answered, âO my lord, the owner of this mule is a comely young man of pleasant manners, withal grave and dignified, and doutbless one of the sons of the merchants.â When the Wazir heard the door-keeperâs words he arose forthright; and, mounting his horse, rode to the Khan and went in to Nur al-Din who, seeing the Minister making towards him, rose to his feet and advanced to meet him and saluted him. The Wazir welcomed him to Bassorah and dismounting, embraced him and made him sit down by his side and said, âO my son, whence comest thou and what dost thou seek?â âO my lord,â Nur al-Din replied, âI have come from Cairo-city of which my father was whilome Wazir; but he hath been removed to the grace of Allah;â and he informed him of all that had befallen him from beginning to end, adding, âI am resolved never to return home before I have seen all the cities and countries of the world.â When the Wazir heard this, he said to him, âO my son, hearken not to the voice of passion lest it cast thee into the pit; for indeed many regions be waste places and I fear for thee the turns of Time.â Then he let load the saddle-bags and the silk and prayer-carpets on the mule and carried Nur al-Din to his own house, where he lodged him in a pleasant place and entreated him honourably and made much of him, for he inclined to love him with exceeding love.

After a while he said to him, âO my son, here am I left a man in years and have no male children, but Allah hath blessed me with a daughter who eveneth thee in beauty; and I have rejected all her many suitors, men of rank and substance. But affection for thee hath entered into my heart; say me, then, wilt thou be to her a husband? If thou accept this, I will go up with thee to the Sultan of Bassorah and will tell him that thou art my nephew, the son of my brother, and bring thee to be appointed Wazir in my place that I may keep the house for, by Allah, O my son, I am stricken in years and aweary.â When Nur al-Din heard the Wazirâs words, he bowed his head in modesty and said, âTo hear is to obey!â

At this the Wazir rejoiced and bade his servants prepare a feast and decorate the great assembly-hall, wherein they were wont to celebrate the marriages of Emirs and Grandees. Then he assembled his friends and the notables of the reign and the merchants of Bassorah and when all stood before him he said to them, âI had a brother who was Wazir in the land of Egypt, and Allah Almighty blessed him with two sons, whilst to me, as well ye wot, He hath given a daughter. My brother charged me to marry my daughter to one of his sons, whereto I assented; and, when my daughter was of age to marry, he sent me one of his sons, the young man now present, to whom I purpose marrying her, drawing up the contract and celebrating the night of unveiling with due ceremony: for he is nearer and dearer to me than a stranger and, after the wedding, if he please he shall abide with me, or if he desire to travel I will forward him and his wife to his fatherâs home.â Hereat one and all replied, âRight is thy recking;â and they looked at the bridegroom and were pleased with him.

So the Wazir sent for the Kazi and legal witnesses and they wrote out the marriage-contract, after which the slaves perfumed the guests with incense, and served them with sherbet of sugar and sprinkled rose-water on them and all went their ways. Then the Wazir bade his servants take Nur al-Din to the Hammam-baths and sent him a suit of the best of his own especial raiment, and napkins and towelry and bowls and perfume-burners and all else that was required. And after the bath, when he came out and donned the dress, he was even as the full moon on the fourteenth night; and he mounted his mule and stayed not till he reached the Wazirâs palace. There he dismounted and went in to the Minister and kissed his hands, and the Wazir bade him welcome, and said, âArise and go in to thy wife this night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the Sultan, and pray Allah bless thee with all manner of weal.â

So Nur al-Din left him and went in to his wife the Wazirâs daughter. Thus far concerning him, but as regards his elder brother, Shams al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time and when he returned from his journey he found not his brother; and he asked of his servants and slaves who answered, âOn the day of thy departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule fully caparisoned as for state procession saying: âI am going towards Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days; for my breast is straitened, and let none of you follow me.â Then he fared forth and from that time to this we have heard no tidings of him.â Shams al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden disappearance of his brother and grieved with exceeding grief at the loss and said to himself, âThis is only because I chided and upbraided him the night before my departure with the Sultan; haply his feelings were hurt and he fared forth a-travelling; but I must send after him.â Then he went in to the Sultan and acquainted him with what had happened and wrote letters and dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his deputies in every province. But during the twenty days of his brotherâs absence Nur al-Din had travelled far and had reached Bassorah; so after diligent search the messengers failed to come at any news of him and returned.

Thereupon Shams al-Din despaired of finding his brother and said, âIndeed I went beyond all bounds in what I said to him with reference to the marriage of our children. Would that I had not done so! This all cometh of my lack of wit and want of caution.â Soon after this he sought in marriage the daughter of a Cairene merchant and drew up the marriage contract and went in to her. And it so chanced that, on the very same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife, Nur al-Din also went in to his wife the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah; this being in accordance with the will of Almighty Allah, that He might deal the decrees of Destiny to His creatures. Furthermore, it was as the two brothers had said; for their two wives became pregnant by them on the same night and both were brought to bed on the same day; the wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of Egypt, of a daughter, never in Cairo was seen a fairer; and the wife of Nur al-Din of a son, none more beautiful was ever seen in his time, as one of the poets said concerning the like of him:

That jetty hair, that glossy brow,

My slender waisted youth, of thine,

Can darkness round creation throw,

Or make it brightly shine,

The dusky mole that faintly shows

Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not;

The tulip-flower never blows

Undarkened by its spot.

And as another also said:

His scent was musk and his cheek was rose;

His teeth are pearls and his lips drop wine;

His form is a brand and his hips a hill;

His hair is night and his face moonshine.

They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the Wazir of Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after his birth, made entertainments and spread banquets which would befit the birth of Kingâs sons and heirs. Then he took Nur al-Din and went up with him to the Sultan, and his son-in-law, when he came before the presence of the King, kissed the ground between his hands and repeated these verses, for he was ready of speech, firm of sprite and good in heart as he was goodly in form:

âThe worldâs best joys long be thy lot, my lord!

And last while darkness and the dawn oâerlap:

O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts,

The world to dance and Time his palms to clap.â

Then the Sultan rose up to honour them and, thanking Nur al-Din for his fine compliment, asked the Wazir, âWho may be this young man?â and the Minister answered, âThis is my brotherâs son,â and related his tale from first to last. Quoth the Sultan, âAnd how comes he to be thy nephew and we have never heard speak of him?â Quoth the Minister, âO our lord the Sultan, I had a brother who was Wazir in the land of Egypt and he died, leaving two sons, whereof the elder hath taken his fatherâs place and the younger, whom thou seest, came to me. I had sworn I would not marry my daughter to any but to him; so when he came I married him to her. Now he is young and I am old; my hearing is dulled and my judgment is easily fooled; wherefore I would solicit our lord the Sultan to set him in my stead, for he is my brotherâs son and my daughterâs husband; and he is fit for the Wazirate, being a man of good counsel and ready contrivance.â

The Sultan looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he stablished him in office as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed him, presenting him with a splendid dress of honour and a she-mule from his private stud: and assigning to him solde, stipends and supplies. Nur al-Din kissed the Sultanâs hand and went home, he and his father-in-law, joying with exceeding joy and saying, âAll this followeth on the heels of the boy Hasanâs birth!â Next day he presented himself before the King and, kissing the ground, began repeating:

âGrow thy weal and thy welfare day by day:

And thy luck prevail oâer the envierâs spite;

And neâer cease thy days to be white as day.

And thy foemanâs day to be black as night!â

The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazirâs seat, so he sat down and applied himself to the business of his office and went into the cases of the lieges and their suits, as is the wont of Ministers; while the Sultan watched him and wondered at his wit and good sense, judgment and insight. Wherefore he loved him and took him into intimacy. When the Divan was dismissed Nur al-Din returned to his house and related what had passed to his father-in-law who rejoiced. And thence-forward Nur al-Din ceased not so to administer the Wazirate that the Sultan would not be parted from him night or day; and increased his stipends and supplies till his means were ample and he became the owner of ships that made trading voyages at his command, as well as of Mamelukes and blackamoor slaves; and he laid out many estates and set up Persian wheels and planted gardens.

When his son Hasan was four years of age, the old Wazir deceased, and he made for his father-in-law a sumptuous funeral ceremony ere he was laid in the dust. Then he occupied himself with the education of this son and, when the boy waxed strong and came to the age of seven, he brought him a Fakih, a doctor of law and religion, to teach him in his own house and charged him to give him a good education and instruct him in politeness and good manners. So the tutor made the boy read and retain all varieties of useful knowledge, after he had spent some years in learning the Koran by heart, and he ceased not to grow in beauty and stature and symmetry, even as saith the poet:

In his face-sky shines the fullest moon;

In his cheeksâ anemone glows the sun:

He so conquered Beauty that he hath won

All charms of humanity one by one.

The professor brought him up in his fatherâs palace teaching him reading, writing and cyphering, theology and belles lettres. His grandfather the old Wazir had bequeathed to him the whole of his property when he was but four years of age. Now during all the time of his earliest youth he had never left the house, till on a certain day his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad him in his best clothes and, mounting him on a she-mule of the finest, went up with him to the Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din Hasan and marvelled at his comeliness and loved him. As for the city-folk, when he first passed before them with his father, they marvelled at his exceeding beauty and sat down on the road expecting his return, that they might look their fill on his beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace even as the poet said is these verses:

As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear

Of a fair youth on âs scroll he saw appear,

Those jetty locks Ganopus oâer him threw,

And tinged his temple curls a musky hue;

Mars dyed his ruddy cheek; and from his eyes

The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies:

His wit from Hermes came; and Sohaâs care

(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear)

Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare.

The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet,

And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet.

And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty Allah to bless him. The Sultan entreated the lad with especial favour and said to his father, âO Wazir, thou must needs bring him daily to my presence;â whereupon he replied, âI hear and I obey.â Then the Wazir returned home with his son and ceased not to carry him to court till he reached the age of twenty. At that time the Minister sickened and, sending for Badr al-Din Hasan, said to him, âKnow, O my son, that the world of the Present is but a house of mortality, while that of the Future is a house of eternity. I wish, before I die, to bequeath thee certain charges and do thou take heed of what I say and incline thy heart to my words.â Then he gave him his last instructions as to the properest way of dealing with his neighbours and the due management of his affairs; after which he called to mind his brother and his home and his native land and wept over his separation from those he had first loved.

Then he wiped away his tears and, turning to his son, said to him, âBefore I proceed, O my son, to my last charges and injunctions, know that I have a brother, and thou hast an uncle, Shams al-Din hight, the Wazir of Cairo, with whom I parted, leaving him against his will. Now take thee a sheet of paper and write upon it whatso I say to thee.â Badr al-Din took a fair leaf and set about doing his fatherâs bidding and he wrote thereon a full account of what had happened to his sire first and last; the dates of his arrival at Bassorah and of his foregathering with the Wazir; of his marriage, of his going in to the Ministerâs daughter and of the birth of his son; brief, his life of forty years from the day of his dispute with his brother, adding the words, âAnd this is written at my dictation and may Allah Almighty be with him when I am gone!â Then he folded the paper and sealed it and said, âO Hasan, O my son, keep this paper with all care; for it will enable thee to stablish thine origin and rank and lineage and, if anything contrary befall thee, set out for Cairo and ask for thine uncle and show him this paper and say to him that I died a stranger far from mine own people and full of yearning to see him and them.â

So Badr al-Din Hasan took the document and folded it; and, wrapping it up in a piece of waxed cloth, sewed it like a talisman between the inner and outer cloth of his skull-cap and wound his light turband round it. And he fell to weeping over his father and at parting with him, and he but a boy. Then Nur al-Din lapsed into a swoon, the forerunner of death; but presently recovering himself he said, âO Hasan, O my son, I will now bequeath to thee five last behests, the FIRST BEHEST is, Be over-intimate with none, nor frequent any, nor be familiar with any; so shalt thou be safe from his mischief; for security lieth in seclusion of thought and a certain retirement from the society of thy fellows; and I have heard it said by a poet:

âIn this world there is none thou mayst count upon

To befriend thy case in the nick of need:

So live for thyself nursing hope of none.

Such counsel I give thee: enow, take heed!

âThe SECOND BEHEST is, O my son: Deal harshly with none lest fortune with thee deal hardly; for the fortune of this world is one day with thee and another day against thee and all worldly goods are but a loan to be repaid. And I have heard a poet say:

âTake thought nor haste to win the thing thou wilt;

Have ruth on man for ruth thou mayâst require:

No hand is there by Allahâs hand is higher;

No tyrant but shall rue worse tyrantâs ire!

âThe THIRD BEHEST is, Learn to be silent in society and let thine own faults distract thine attention from the faults of other men: for it is said: In silence dwelleth safety, and thereon I have heard the lines that tell us:

âReserveâs a jewel, Silence safety is;

Whenas thou speakest many a word withhold;

For an of Silence thou repent thee once,

Of speech thou shalt repent times manifold.

âThe FOURTH BEHEST, O my son, is Beware of wine-bibbing, for wine is the head of all frowardness and a fine solvent of human wits. So shun, and again I say, shun mixing strong liquor; for I have heard a poet say:

âFrom wine I turn and whoso wine-cups swill;

Becoming one of those who deem it ill:

Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way

And opes the gateway wide to sins that kill.

âThe FIFTH BEHEST, O my son, is Keep thy wealth and it will keep thee; guard thy money and it will guard thee; and waste not thy substance lest haply thou come to want and must fare a-begging from the meanest of mankind. Save thy dirhams and deem them the sovereignest salve for the wounds of the world. And here again I have heard that one of the poets said:

âWhen fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend:

When wealth abounds all friends their friendship tender;

How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend;

But friends to lack of wealth no friendship render.â

On this wise Nur al-Din ceased not to counsel his son Badr al-Din Hasan till his hour came and, sighing one sobbing sigh, his life went forth. Then the voice of mourning and keening rose high in his house and the Sultan and all the Grandees grieved for him and buried him; but his son ceased not lamenting his loss for two months, during which he never mounted horse, nor attended the Divan nor presented himself before the Sultan. At last the King, being wroth with him, stablished in his stead one of his Chamberlains and made him Wazir, giving orders to seize and set seals on all Nur al-Dinâs houses and goods and domains. So the new Wazir went forth with a mighty posse of Chamberlains and people of the Divan, and watchmen and a host of idlers to do this and to seize Badr al-Din Hasan and carry him before the King, who would deal with him as he seemed fit. Now there was among the crowd of followers a Mameluke of the deceased Wazir who, when he heard this order, urged his horse at full speed to the house of Badr al-Din Hasan; for he could not endure to see the ruin of his old masterâs son.

He found him sitting at the gate with head hung down and sorrowing, as was his wont, for the loss of his father; so he dismounted and kissing his hand said to him, âO my lord and son of my lord, haste ere ruin come and lay waste!â When Hasan heard this he trembled and asked, âWhat may be the matter?â and the man answered, âThe Sultan is angered with thee and hath issued a warrant against thee, and evil cometh hard upon my track; so flee with thy life!â At these words Hasanâs heart flamed with the fire of bale, and his rose-red cheek turned pale, and he said to the Mameluke, âO my brother is there time for me to go in and get me some worldly gear which may stand me in stead during my strangerhood?â But the slave replied, âO my lord, up at once and save thyself and leave this house, while it is yet time.â And he quoted these lines:

âEscape with thy life, if oppression betide thee,

And let the house tell of its builderâs fate!

Country for country thouâlt find, if thou seek it;

Life for life never, early or late.

It is strange men should dwell in the house of abjection,

When the plain of Godâs earth is so wide and so great!â

At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head with the skirt of his garment and went forth on foot till he stood outside the city, where he heard folk saying, âThe Sultan hath sent his new Wazir to the house of the old Wazir, now no more, to seal his property and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan and take him before the presence, that he may put him to death;â and all cried; âAlas for his beauty and his loveliness!â

When he heard this he fled forth at hazard, knowing not whither he was going, and gave not over hurrying onwards till Destiny drove him to his fatherâs tomb. So he entered the cemetery and, threading his way through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre where he sat down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem whereon were worked these couplets:

O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East,

Tells of the stars of Heaven and bounteous dews:

Endure thine honour to the latest day.

And Time thy growth of glory neâer refuse!

While he was sitting by his fatherâs tomb behold, there came to him a Jew as he were a Shroff, a money-changer, with a pair of saddle-bags containing much gold, who accosted him and kissed his hand, saying, âWhither bound, O my lord: âtis late in the day and thou art clad but lightly and I read signs of trouble in thy face?â âI was sleeping within this very hour,â answered Hasan, âwhen my father appeared to me and chid me for not having visited his tomb; so I awoke trembling and came hither forthright lest the day should go by without my visiting him, which would have been grievous to me.â âO my lord,â rejoined the Jew, âthy father had many merchantmen at sea, and, as some of them are now due, it is my wish to buy of thee the cargo of the first ship that cometh into port with this thousand dinars of gold.â

âI consent,â quoth Hasan, whereupon the Jew took out a bag full of gold and counted out a thousand sequins which he gave to Hasan the son of the Wazir, saying, âWrite me a letter of sale and seal it.â So Hasan took a pen and paper and wrote these words in duplicate, âThe writer, Hasan Badr al-Din, son of Wazir Nur al-Din, hath sold to Isaac the Jew all the cargo of the first of his fatherâs ships which cometh into port, for a thousand dinars, and he hath received the price in advance.â And after he had taken one copy the Jew put it into his pouch and went away; but Hasan fell a-weeping as he thought of the dignity and prosperity which had erst been his and he began reciting:

âThis house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more

For me, nor neighbours, since you left, prove kind and neighbourly:

The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me

Is friend; and even Lunaâs self displayeth lunacy:

You left and by your going left the world a waste, a wold,

And lies a gloomy murk upon the face of hill and lea:

O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked

Find neâer a nesty home and eke shed all his plumery!

At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my flesh;

How many a veil by severance rent our eyes are doomed see:

Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of yore;

And shall a single house become a home for me once more?â

Then he wept with exceeding weeping and night came upon him; so he leant his head against his fatherâs grave and sleep overcame him: Glory to Him who sleepeth not! He ceased not slumbering till the moon rose, when his head slipped from off the tomb and he lay on his back, with limbs outstretched, his face shining bright in the moonlight. Now the cemetery was haunted day and night by Jinns who were of the True Believers, and presently came out a Jinniyah who, seeing Hasan asleep, marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and cried, âGlory to God! this youth can be none other than one of the Wuldan of Paradise.â Then she flew firmament-wards to circle it, as was her custom, and met an Ifrit on the wing who saluted her and she said to him, âWhence comest thou?â âFrom Cairo,â he replied. âWilt thou come with me and look upon the beauty of a youth who sleepeth in yonder burial place?â she asked, and he answered, âI will.â So they flew till they lighted at the tomb and she showed him the youth and said, âNow diddest thou ever in thy born days see aught like this?â The Ifrit looked upon him and exclaimed, âPraise be to Him that hath no equal! But O, my sister, shall I tell thee what I have seen this day?â Asked she, âWhat is that?â and he answered, âI have seen the counterpart of this youth in the land of Egypt. She is the daughter of the Wazir Shams al-Din and she is a model of beauty and loveliness, of fairest favour and formous form, and dight with symmetry and perfect grace. When she had reached the age of nineteen the Sultan of Egypt heard of her and, sending for the Wazir her father, said to him: âHear me, O Wazir: it hath reached mine ear that thou hast a daughter and I wish to demand her of thee in marriage.â The Wazir replied: âO our lord the Sultan, deign accept my excuses and take compassion on my sorrows, for thou knowest that my brother, who was partner with me in the Wazirate, disappeared from amongst us many years ago and we wot not where he is.

âNow the cause of his departure was that one night, as we were sitting together and talking of wives and children to come, we had words on the matter and he went off in high dudgeon. But I swore that I would marry my daughter to none save to the son of my brother on the day her mother gave her birth, which was nigh upon nineteen years ago. I have lately heard that my brother died at Bassorah, where he had married the daughter of the Wazir and that she bare him a son; and I will not marry my daughter but to him in honour of my brotherâs memory. I recorded the date of my marriage and the conception of my wife and the birth of my daughter; and from her horoscope I find that her name is conjoined with that of her cousin; and there are damsels in foison for our lord the Sultan.â The King, hearing his Ministerâs answer and refusal, waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and cried: âWhen the like of me asketh a girl in marriage of the like of thee, he conferreth an honour, and thou rejectest me and puttest me off with cold excuses! Now, by the life of my head I will marry her to the meanest of my men in spite of the nose of thee!â There was in the palace a horse-groom which was a Gobbo with a bunch to his breast and a hunch to his back; and the Sultan sent for him and married him to the daughter of the Wazir, lief or loath, and hath ordered a pompous marriage procession for him and that he go in to his bride this very night. I have now just flown hither from Cairo, where I left the Hunchback at the door of the Hammambath amidst the Sultanâs white slaves who were waving lighted flambeaux about him. As for the Ministerâs daughter she sitteth among her nurses and tire-women, weeping and wailing; for they have forbidden her father to come near her. Never have I seen, O my sister, a more hideous being than this Hunchback whilst the young lady is the likest of all folk to this young man, albeit even fairer than he.â

When the Jinni narrated to the Jinniyah how the King had caused the wedding contract to be drawn up between the hunchbacked groom and the lovely young lady who was heart-broken for sorrow; and how she was the fairest of created things and even more beautiful than this youth, the Jinniyah cried at him, âThou liest! this youth is handsomer than any one of his day.â The Ifrit gave her the lie again, adding, âBy Allah, O my sister, the damsel I speak of is fairer than this; yet none but he deserveth her, for they resemble each other like brother and sister or at least cousins. And, well-away! how she is wasted upon that Hunchback!â

Then said she, âO my brother, let us get under him and lift him up and carry him to Cairo, that we may compare him with the damsel of whom thou speakest and so determine whether of the twain is the fairer.â âTo hear is to obey!â replied he, âthou speakest to the point; nor is there a righter recking than this of thine, and I myself will carry him.â So he raised him from the ground and flew with him like a bird soaring in upper air, the Ifritah keeping close by his side at equal speed, till he alighted with him in the city of Cairo and set him down on a stone bench and woke him up. He roused himself and finding that he was no longer at his fatherâs tomb in Bassorah-city he looked right and left and saw that he was in a strange place; and he would have cried out; but the Ifrit gave him a cuff which persuaded him to keep silence.

Then he brought him rich raiment and clothed him therein and, giving him a lighted flambeau, said, âKnow that I have brought thee hither, meaning to do thee a good turn for the love of Allah: so take this torch and mingle with the people at the Hammam-door and walk on with them without stopping till thou reach the house of the wedding-festival; then go boldly forward and enter the great saloon; and fear none, but take thy stand at the right hand of the Hunchback bridegroom; and, as often as any of the nurses and tirewomen and singing-girls come up to thee, put thy hand into thy pocket which thou wilt find filled with gold. Take it out and throw it to them and spare not; for as often as thou thrusteth fingers in pouch thou shalt find it full of coin. Give largesse by handfuls and fear nothing, but set thy trust upon Him who created thee, for this is not by thine own strength but by that of Allah Almighty, that His decrees may take effect upon his creatures.â

When Badr al-Din Hasan heard these words from the Ifrit he said to himself, âWould Heaven I knew what all this means and what is the cause of such kindness!â However, he mingled with the people and, lighting his flambeau, moved on with the bridal procession till he came to the bath where he found the Hunchback already on horseback. Then he pushed his way in among the crowd, a veritable beauty of a man in the finest apparel, wearing tarbush and turband and a long-sleeved robe purfled with gold; and, as often as the singing women stopped for the people to give them largesse, he thrust his hand into his pocket and, finding it full of gold, took out a handful and threw it on the tambourine till he had filled it with gold pieces for the music-girls and the tirewomen.

The singers were amazed by his bounty and the people marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and the splendour of his dress. He ceased not to do thus till he reached the mansion of the Wazir (who was his uncle), where the Chamberlains drove back the people and forbade them to go forward; but the singing-girls and the tirewomen said, âBy Allah we will not enter unless this young man enter with us, for he hath given us length oâ life with his largesse and we will not display the bride unless he be present.â Therewith they carried him into the bridal hall and made him sit down defying the evil glances of the hunchbacked bridegroom. The wives of the Emirs and Wazirs and Chamberlains and Courtiers all stood in double line, each holding a massy cierge ready lighted; all wore thin face-veils and the two rows right and left extended from the brideâs throne to the head of the hall adjoining the chamber whence she was to come forth.

When the ladies saw Badr al-Din Hasan and noted his beauty and loveliness and his face that shone like the new moon, their hearts inclined to him and the singing-girls said to all that were present, âKnow that this beauty crossed our hands with naught but red gold; so be not chary to do him womanly service and comply with all he says no matter what he ask.â

So all the women crowded round Hasan with their torches and gazed on his loveliness and envied him his beauty; and one and all would gladly have lain on his bosom an hour or rather a year. Their hearts were so troubled that they let fall their veils from before their faces and said, âHappy she who belongeth to this youth or to whom he belongeth!â and they called down curses on the crooked groom and on him who was the cause of his marriage to the girl-beauty; and as often as they blessed Badr al-Din Hasan they damned the Hunchback, saying, âVerily this youth and none else deserveth our Bride: ah, well-away for such a lovely one with this hideous Quasimodo; Allahâs curse light on his head and on the Sultan who commanded the marriage!â

Then the singing-girls beat their tabrets and lullilooâd with joy, announcing the appearing of the bride; and the Wazirâs daughter came in surrounded by her tirewomen who had made her goodly to look upon; for they had perfumed her and incensed her and adorned her hair; and they had robed her in raiment and ornaments befitting the mighty ChosroÃ«s Kings. The most notable part of her dress was a loose robe worn over her other garments: it was diapered in red gold with figures of wild beasts, and birds whose eyes and beaks were of gems, and claws of red rubies and green beryl; and her neck was graced with a necklace of Yamani work, worth thousands of gold pieces, whose bezels were great round jewels of sorts, the like of which was never owned by Kaysar or by Tobba King. And the bride was as the full moon when at fullest on fourteenth night; and as she paced into the hall she was like one of the Houris of Heaven â praise be to Him who created her in such splendour of beauty!

The ladies encompassed her as the white contains the black of the eye, they clustering like stars whilst she shone amongst them like the moon when it eats up the clouds. Now Badr al-Din Hasan of Bassorah was sitting in full gaze of the folk, when the bride came forward with her graceful swaying and swimming gait, and her hunchbacked bridegroom stood up to meet and receive her: she, however, turned away from the wight and walked forward till she stood before her cousin Hasan, the son of her uncle. Whereat the people laughed. But when the wedding-guests saw her thus attracted towards Badr al-Din they made a mighty clamour and the singing-women shouted their loudest; whereupon he put his hand into his pocket and, pulling out a handful of gold, cast it into their tambourines and the girls rejoiced and said, âCould we win our wish this bride were thine!â

At this he smiled and the folk came round him, flambeaux in hand like the eyeball round the pupil, while the Gobbo bridegroom was left sitting alone much like a tail-less baboon; for every time they lighted a candle for him it went out willy-nilly, so he was left in darkness and silence and looking at naught but himself. When Badr al-Din Hasan saw the bridegroom sitting lonesome in the dark, and all the wedding-guests with their flambeaux and wax candles crowding about himself, he was bewildered and marvelled much; but when he looked at his cousin, the daughter of his uncle, he rejoiced and felt an inward delight; he longed to greet her and gazed intently on her face which was radiant with light and brilliancy.

Then the tirewomen took off her veil and displayed her in the first bridal dress which was of scarlet satin; and Hasan had a view of her which dazzled his sight and dazed his wits, as she moved to and fro, swaying with graceful gait; and she turned the heads of all the guests, women as well as men, for she was even as saith the surpassing poet:

A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed,

Clad in her cramoisy-hued chemisette;

Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink,

And with her rosy cheeks quencht fire she set.

Then they changed that dress and displayed her in a robe of azure; and she reappeared like the full moon when it riseth over the horizon, with her coal-black hair and cheeks delicately fair; and teeth shown in sweet smiling and breasts firm and rising and crowning sides of the softest and waist of the roundest. And in this second suit she was as a certain master of high conceits saith of the like of her:

She came apparelled in an azure vest,

Ultramarine, as skies are deckt and dight:

I viewâd thâ unparallelâd sight, which showâd my eyes

A moon of Summer on a Winter-night.

Then they changed that suit for another and, veiling her face in the luxuriance of her hair, loosed her lovelocks, so dark, so long that their darkness and length outvied the darkest nights, and she shot through all hearts with the magical shaft of her eye-babes. They displayed her in the third dress and she was as said of her the sayer:

Veiling her cheeks with hair a-morn she comes,

And I her mischiefs with the cloud compare:

Saying, âThou veilest morn with night!â. âAh no!â

Quoth she, âI shroud full moon with darkling air!â

Then they displayed her in the fourth bridal dress and she came forward shining like the rising sun and swaying to and fro with lovesome grace and supple ease like a gazelle-fawn. And she clave all hearts with the arrows of her eyelashes, even as saith one who described a charmer like her:

The sun of beauty she to sight appears

And, lovely-coy, she mocks all loveliness;

And when he fronts her favour and her smile

A-morn, the Sun of day in clouds must dress.

Then she came forth in the fifth dress, a very light of loveliness like a wand of waving willow or a gazelle of the thirsty wold. Those locks which stung like scorpions along her cheeks were bent, and her neck was bowed in blandishment, and her hips quivered as she went. As saith one of the poets describing her in verse:

She comes like fullest moon on happy night;

Taper of waist, with shape of magic might:

She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind,

And Ruby on her cheeks reflects his light:

Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair;

Beware of curls that bite with viper-bite!

Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart

Mere rock behind that surface lurks from sight:

From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots

Shafts which at farthest range on mark alight:

When round her neck or waist I throw my arms

Her breasts repel me with their hardened height.

Ah, how her beauty all excels! ah how

That shape transcends the graceful waving bough!

Then they adorned her with the sixth toilette, a dress which was green. And now she shamed in her slender straightness the nut-brown spear; her radiant face dimmed the brightest beams of full moon and she outdid the bending branches in gentle movement and flexile grace. Her loveliness exalted the beauties of earthâs four quarters and she broke menâs hearts by the significance of her semblance; for she was even as saith one of the poets in these lines:

A damsel âtwas the tirerâs art had decked with snares and sleight:

And robed in rays as though the sun from her had borrowed light:

She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green,

As veiled by its leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight:

And when he said, âHow callest thou the manner of thy dress?â

She answered us in pleasant way with double meaning dight:

âWe call this garment creve-cÅur; and rightly it is hight,

For many a heart wiâ this we broke and conquered many a sprite!â

Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between safflower and saffron, even as one of the poets saith:

In vest of saffron pale and safflower red

Muskâd, sandalâd, ambergrisâd, she came to front:

âRise!â cried her youth, âgo forth and show thyself!â

âSit,â said her hips, âwe cannot bear the brunt!â

And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said

âDo, do!â and said her pretty shame, âDonât, donât!â

Thus they displayed the bride in all her seven toilettes before Hasan al-Basri, wholly neglecting the Gobbo who sat moping alone; and, when she opened her eyes she said, âO Allah make this man my goodman and deliver me from the evil of this hunchbacked groom.â As soon as they had made an end of this part of the ceremony they dismissed the wedding-guests who went forth, women, children and all, and none remained save Hasan and the Hunchback, whilst the tire-women led the bride into an inner room to change her garb and gear and get her ready for her bridegroom.

Thereupon Quasimodo came up to Badr al-Din Hasan and said, âO my lord, thou hast cheered us this night with thy good company and overwhelmed us with thy kindness and courtesy; but now why not get thee up and go?â âBismillah;â he answered, âIn Allahâs name so be it!â and rising, he went forth by the door, where the Ifrit met him and said, âStay in thy stead, O Badr al-Din, and when the Hunchback goes out to the closet of ease go in without losing time and seat thyself in the alcove; and when the bride comes say to her: ââTis I am thy husband, for the King devised this trick only fearing for thee the evil eye, and he whom thou sawest is but a syce, a groom, one of our stablemen.â Then walk boldly up to her and unveil her face; for jealousy hath taken us of this matter.â

While Hasan was still talking with the Ifrit behold, the groom fared forth from the hall and entering the closet of ease sat down on the stool. Hardly had he done this when the Ifrit came out of the tank, wherein the water was, in semblance of a mouse and sqeaked out âZeek!â Quoth the Hunchback, âWhat ails thee?â and the mouse grew and grew till it became a coal-black cat and caterwauled âMeeao! Meeao!â Then it grew still more and more till it became a dog and barked out âOwh! Owh!â When the bridegroom saw this he was frightened and exclaimed âOut with thee, O unlucky one!â But the dog grew and swelled till it became an ass-colt that brayed and snorted in his face âHauk! Hauk!â Whereupon the Hunchback quaked and cried, âCome to my aid, O people of the house!â But behold, the ass-colt grew and became as big as a buffalo and walled the way before him and spake with the voice of the sons of Adam, saying, âWoe to thee, O thou Hunchback, thou stinkard, O thou filthiest of grooms!â

Hearing this the groom was seized with a colic and he sat down on the jakes in his clothes with teeth chattering and knocking together. Quoth the Ifrit, âIs the world so strait to thee thou findest none to marry save my lady-love?â But as he was silent the Ifrit continued, âAnswer me or I will do thee dwell in the dust!â âBy Allah,â replied the Gobbo, âO King of the Buffaloes, this is no fault of mine, for they forced me to wed her; and verily I wot not that she had a lover amongst the buffaloes; but now I repent, first before Allah and then before thee.â Said the Ifrit to him, âI swear to thee that if thou fare forth from this place, or thou utter a word before sunrise, I assuredly will wring thy neck. When the sun rises wend thy went and never more return to this house.â

So saying, the Ifrit took up the Gobbo bridegroom and set him head downwards and feet upwards in the slit of the privy, and said to him, âI will leave thee here but I shall be on the look-out for thee till sunrise; and, if thou stir before then, I will seize thee by the feet and dash out thy brains against the wall: so look out for thy life!â Thus far concerning the Hunchback, but as regards Badr al-Din Hasan of Bassorah, he left the Gobbo and the Ifrit jangling and wrangling and, going into the house, sat him down in the very middle of the alcove; and behold, in came the bride attended by an old woman who stood at the door and said, âO Father of Uprightness, arise and take what God giveth thee.â

Then the old woman went away and the bride, Sitt al-Husn or the Lady of Beauty hight, entered the inner part of the alcove broken-hearted and saying in herself, âBy Allah I will never yield my person to him; no, not even were he to take my life!â But as she came to the further end she saw Badr al-Din Hasan and she said, âDearling! art thou still sitting here? By Allah I was wishing that thou wert my bridegroom or, at least, that thou and the hunchbacked horsegroom were partners in me.â He replied, âO beautiful lady, how should the syce have access to thee, and how should he share in thee with me?â âThen,â quoth she, âwho is my husband, thou or he?â âSitt al-Husn,â rejoined Hasan, âwe have not done this for mere fun, but only as a device to ward off the evil eye from thee; for when the tirewomen and singers and wedding-guests saw thy beauty being displayed to me, they feared fascination and thy father hired the horse-groom for ten dinars and a porringer of meat to take the evil eye off us; and now he hath received his hire and gone his gait.â

When the Lady of Beauty heard these words she smiled and rejoiced and laughed a pleasant laugh. Then she whispered him, âBy the Lord, thou hast quenched a fire which tortured me and now, by Allah, O my little dark-haired darling, take me to thee and press me to thy bosom!â Then she began singing:

âBy Allah, set thy foot upon my soul;

Since long, long years for this alone I long:

And whisper tale of love in ear of me;

To me âtis sweeter than the sweetest song!

No other youth upon my heart shall lie;

So do it often, dear, and do it long.â

Then she stripped off her outer gear and she threw open her chemise from the neck downwards and showed all the rondure of her hips. When Badr al-Din saw the glorious sight his desires were roused, and he rose and doffed his clothes, and wrapping up in his bag-trousers the purse of gold which he had taken from the Jew and which contained the thousand dinars, he laid it under the edge of the bedding. Then he took off his turband and set it upon the settle atop of his other clothes, remaining in his skull-cap and fine shirt of blue silk laced with gold. Whereupon the Lady of Beauty drew him to her and he did likewise.

And when the battle and the siege had finished, some fifteen assaults he had furnished and she conceived by him that very night. Then he laid his hand under her head and she did the same and they embraced and fell asleep in each otherâs arms, as a certain poet said of such lovers in these couplets:

Visit thy lover, spurn what envy told;

No envious churl shall smile on love ensoulâd.

Merciful Allah made no fairer sight

Then coupled lovers single couch doth hold;

Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own,

With pillowed forearms cast in finest mould:

And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love,

Folk who would part them hammer steel ice-cold:

If a fair friend thou find who cleaves to thee,

Live for that friend, that friend in heart enfold.

O ye who blame for love us lover kind

Say, can ye minister to diseased mind?

This much concerning Badr al-Din Hasan and Sitt al-Husn his cousin; but as regards the Ifrit, as soon as he saw the twain asleep, he said to the Ifritah, âArise; slip thee under the youth and let us carry him back to his place ere dawn overtake us; for the day is nearhand.â Thereupon she came forward and, getting under him as he lay asleep, took him up clad only in his fine blue shirt, leaving the rest of his garments; and ceased not flying (and the Ifrit vying with her in flight) till the dawn advised them that it had come upon them mid-way, and the Muezzin began his call from the Minaret, âHaste ye to salvation! Haste ye to salvation!â

Then Allah suffered His angelic host to shoot down the Ifrit with a shooting star, so he was consumed, but the Ifritah escaped and she descended with Badr al-Din at the place where the Ifrit was burnt, and did not carry him back to Bassorah, fearing lest he come to harm. Now by the order of Him who predestineth all things, they alighted at Damascus of Syria, and the Ifritah set down her burden at one of the city gates and flew away. When day arose and the doors were opened, the folk who came forth saw a handsome youth, with no other raiment but his blue shirt of gold-embroidered silk and skull-cap, lying upon the ground drowned in sleep after the hard labour of the night which had not suffered him to take his rest. So the folk looking at him said, âO her luck with whom this one spent the night! But would he had waited to don his garments.â Quoth another, âA sorry lot are the sons of great families! Haply he but now came forth of the tavern on some occasion of his own and his wine flew to his head, whereby he hath missed the place he was making for and strayed till he came to the gate of the city; and finding it shut lay him down and went to by-by!â

As the people were bandying guesses about him suddenly the morning breeze blew upon Badr al-Din and raising his shirt to his middle showed a stomach and navel with something below it, and legs and thighs clear as crystal and smooth as cream. Cried the people, âBy Allah he is a pretty fellow!â and at the cry Badr al-Din awoke and found himself lying at a city-gate with a crowd gathered around him. At this he greatly marvelled and asked, âWhere am I, O good folk; and what causeth you thus to gather round me, and what have I had to do with you?â and they answered, âWe found thee lying asleep during the call to dawn-prayer and this is all we know of the matter, but where diddest thou lie last night?â

âBy Allah, O good people,â replied he, âI lay last night in Cairo.â Said somebody, âThou hast surely been eating Hashish;â and another, âHe is a fool;â and a third, âHe is a citrouille;â and a fourth asked him, âArt thou out of thy mind? thou sleepest in Cairo and thou wakest in the morning at the gate of Damascus-city!â Cried he, âBy Allah, my good people, one and all, I lie not to you: indeed I lay yesternight in the land of Egypt and yesternoon I was at Bassorah.â Quoth one, âWell! Well!â and quoth another, âHo! Ho!â and a third, âSo! So!â and a fourth cried, âThis youth is mad, is possessed of the Jinni!â So they clapped hands at him and said to one another, âAlas, the pity of it for his youth: by Allah a madman! and madness is no respecter of persons.â

Then said they to him, âCollect thy wits and return to thy reason! How couldest thou be in Bassorah yesterday and in Cairo yesternight and withal awake in Damascus this morning?â But he persisted, âIndeed I was a bridegroom in Cairo last night.â âBelike thou hast been dreaming,â rejoined they, âand sawest all this in thy sleep.â So Hasan took thought for a while and said to them, âBy Allah, this is no dream; nor vision-like doth it seem! I certainly was in Cairo where they displayed the bride before me, in presence of a third person, the Hunchback groom who was sitting hard by. By Allah, O my brother, this be no dream, and if it were a dream, where is the bag of gold I bore with me, and where are my turband and my robe, and my trousers?â

Then he rose and entered the city, threading its highways and by-ways and bazar-streets; and the people pressed upon him and jeered at him, crying out âMadman! Madman!â till he, beside himself with rage, took refuge in a cookâs shop. Now that Cook had been a trifle too clever, that is, a rogue and thief; but Allah had made him repent and turn from his evil ways and open a cook-shop; and all the people of Damascus stood in fear of his boldness and his mischief. So when the crowd saw the youth enter his shop, they dispersed being afraid of him, and went their ways.

The Cook looked at Badr al-Din and, noting his beauty and loveliness, fell in love with him forthright and said, âWhence comest thou, O youth? Tell me at once thy tale, for thou art become dearer to me than my soul.â So Hasan recounted to him all that had befallen him from beginning to end (but in repetition there is no fruition) and the Cook said, âO my lord Badr al-Din, doubtless thou knowest that this case is wondrous and this story marvellous; therefore, O my son, hide what hath betided thee, till Allah dispel what ills be thine; and tarry with me here the meanwhile, for I have no child and I will adopt thee.â Badr al-Din replied, âBe it as thou wilt, O my uncle!â Whereupon the Cook went to the bazar and bought him a fine suit of clothes and made him don it; then fared with him to the Kazi, and formally declared that he was his son.

So Badr al-Din Hasan became known in Damascus-city as the Cookâs son and he sat with him in the shop to take the silver, and on this wise he sojourned there for a time. Thus far concerning him; but as regards his cousin, the Lady of Beauty, when morning dawned she awoke and missed Badr al-Din Hasan from her side; but she thought that he had gone to the privy and she sat expecting him for an hour or so; when behold, entered her father Shams al-Din Mohammed, Wazir of Egypt. Now he was disconsolate by reason of what had befallen him through the Sultan, who had entreated him harshly and had married his daughter by force to the lowest of his menials and he too a lump of a groom bunch-backed withal, and he said to himself, âI will slay this daughter of mine if of her own free will she have yielded her person to this accursed carle.â So he came to the door of the brideâs private chamber, and said âHo! Sitt al-Husn.â She answered him, âHere I am! here I am! O my lord.â and came out unsteady of gait after the pains and pleasures of the night; and she kissed his hand, her face showing redoubled brightness and beauty for having lain in the arms of that gazelle, her cousin.

When her father, the Wazir, saw her in such case, he asked her, âO thou accursed, art thou rejoicing because of this horse-groom?â and Sitt al-Husn smiled sweetly and answered, âBy Allah, donât ridicule me: enough of what passed yesterday when folk laughed at me, and evened me with that groom-fellow who is not worthy to bring my husbandâs shoes or slippers; nay who is not worth the paring of my husbandâs nails! By the Lord, never in my life have I nighted a night so sweet as yesternight! so donât mock by reminding me of the Gobbo.â When her parent heard her words he was filled with fury, and his eyes glared and stared, so that little of them showed save the whites and he cried, âFie upon thee! What words are these? âTwas the hunchbacked horse-groom who passed the night with thee!â âAllah upon thee,â replied the Lady of Beauty, âdo not worry me about the Gobbo, Allah damn his father; and leave jesting with me; for this groom was only hired for ten dinars and a porringer of meat and he took his wage and went his way. As for me I entered the bridal-chamber, where I found my true bridegroom sitting, after the singer-women had displayed me to him; the same who had crossed their hands with red gold, till every pauper that was present waxed wealthy; and I passed the night on the breast of my bonny man, a most lively darling, with his black eyes and joined eyebrows.â

When her parent heard these words the light before his face became night, and he cried out at her saying, âO thou whore! What is this thou tellest me? Where be thy wits?â âO my father,â she rejoined, âthou breakest my heart; enough for thee that thou hast been so hard upon me! Indeed my husband who took my virginity is but just now gone to the draght-house and I feel that I have conceived by him.â The Wazir rose in much marvel and entered the privy where he found the hunchbacked horse-groom with his head in the hole and his heels in the air.

At this sight he was confounded and said, âThis is none other than he, the rascal Hunchback!â So he called to him, âHo, Hunchback!â The Gobbo grunted out, âTaghum! Taghum!â thinking it was the Ifrit spoke to him; so the Wazir shouted at him and said, âSpeak out, or Iâll strike off thy pate with this sword.â

Then quoth the Hunchback, âBy Allah, O shaykh of the Ifrits, ever since thou settest me in this place, I have not lifted my head; so Allah upon thee, take pity and entreat me kindly!â When the Wazir heard this he asked, âWhat is this thou sayest? Iâm the brideâs father and no Ifrit.â âEnough for thee that thou hast well nigh done me die,â answered Quasimodo; ânow go thy ways before he come upon thee who hath served me thus. Could ye not marry me to any save the lady-love of buffaloes and the beloved of Ifrits? Allah curse her and curse him who married me to her and was the cause of this my case.â

Then said the Wazir to him, âUp and out of this place!â âAm I mad,â cried the groom, âthat I should go with thee without leave of the Ifrit whose last words to me were: âWhen the sun rises, arise and go thy gait.â So hath the sun risen or not? For I dare not budge from this place till then.â Asked the Wazir, âWho brought thee hither?â and he answered, âI came here yesternight for a call of nature and to do what none can do for me, when lo! a mouse came out of the water, and squeaked at me and swelled and waxed gross till it was big as a buffalo, and spoke to me words that entered my ears. Then he left me here and went away, Allah curse the bride and him who married me to her!â

The Wazir walked up to him and lifted his head out of the cesspool hole; and he fared forth running for dear life and hardly crediting that the sun had risen; and repaired to the Sultan to whom he told all that had befallen him with the Ifrit. But the Wazir returned to the brideâs private chamber, sore troubled in spirit about her, and said to her, âO my daughter, explain this strange matter to me!â

Quoth she, ââTis simply this. The bridegroom to whom they displayed me yesterday lay with me all night, and took my virginity and I am with child by him. He is my husband and if thou believe me not, there are his turband, twisted as it was, lying on the settle and his dagger and his trousers beneath the bed with a something, I wot not what, wrapped up in them.â When her father heard this he entered the private chamber and found the turband which had been left there by Badr al-Din Hasan, his brotherâs son, and he took it in hand and turned it over, saying, âThis is the turband worn by Wazirs, save that it is Mosul stuff.â So he opened it and, finding what seemed to be an amulet sewn up in the Fez, he unsewed the lining and took it out; then he lifted up the trousers wherein was the purse of the thousand gold pieces and, opening that also, found in it a written paper. This he read and it was the sale-receipt of the Jew in the name of Badr al-Din Hasan, son of Nur al-Din Ali, the Egyptian; and the thousand dinars were also there.

No sooner had Shams al-Din read this than he cried out with a loud cry and fell to the ground fainting; and as soon as he revived and understood the gist of the matter he marvelled and said, âThere is no god but the God, whose Allmight is over all things! Knowest thou, O my daughter, who it was that became the husband of thy virginity?â âNo,â answered she, and he said, âVerily he is the son of my brother, thy cousin, and this thousand dinars is thy dowry. Praise be to Allah! and would I wot how this matter came about!â

Then opened he the amulet which was sewn up and found therein a paper in the handwriting of his deceased brother, Nur al-Din the Egyptian, father of Badr al-Din Hasan; and, when he saw the handwriting, he kissed it again and again; and he wept and wailed over his dead brother and improvised these lines:

âI see their traces and with pain I melt,

And on their whilome homes I weep and yearn;

And Him I pray who dealt this parting-blow

Some day he deign vouchsafe a safe return.â

When he ceased versifying, he read the scroll and found in it recorded the dates of his brotherâs marriage with the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah, and of his going in to her, and her conception, and the birth of Badr al-Din Hasan and all his brotherâs history and doings up to his dying day. So he marvelled much and shook with joy, and comparing the dates with his own marriage and going in unto his wife and the birth of his daughter, Sitt al-Husn, he found that they perfectly agreed. So he took the document and, repairing with it to the Sultan, acquainted him with what had passed, from first to last; whereat the King marvelled and commanded the case to be at once recorded.

The Wazir abode that day expecting to see his brotherâs son but he came not; and he waited a second day, a third day and so on to the seventh day, without tidings of him. So he said, ââBy Allah, I will do a deed such as none hath ever done before me!â and he took reed-pen and ink and drew upon a sheet of paper the plan of the whole house, showing whereabouts was the private chamber with the curtain in such a place and the furniture in such another and so on with all that was in the room.

Then he folded up the sketch and, causing all the furniture to be collected, he took Badr al-Dinâs garments and the turband and Fez and robe and purse, and carried the whole to his house and locked them up, against the coming of his nephew, Badr al-Din Hasan, the son of his lost brother, with an iron padlock on which he set his seal. As for the Wazirâs daughter, when her tale of months was fulfilled, she bare a son like the full moon, the image of his father in beauty and loveliness and fair proportions and perfect grace.

They cut his navel string and kohlâd his eyelids to strengthen his eyes, and gave him over to the nurses and nursery governesses, naming him Ajib, the Wonderful. His day was as a month and his month was as a year; and, when seven years had passed over him, his grandfather sent him to school, enjoining the master to teach him Koran-reading, and to educate him well. He remained at the school four years, till he began to bully his schoolfellows and abuse them and bash them and thrash them and say, âWho among you is like me? I am the son of the Wazir of Egypt!â At last the boys came in a body to complain to the Monitor of what hard usage they were wont to have from Ajib, and he said to them, âI will tell you somewhat you may do to him so that he shall leave off coming to the school, and it is this. When he enters tomorrow, sit ye down about him and say some one of you to some other; âBy Allah none shall play with us at this game except he tell us the names of his mamma and his papa; for he who knows not the names of his mother and his father is a bastard, a son of adultery, and he shall not play with us.ââ

When morning dawned the boys came to school, Ajib being one of them, and all flocked round him saying, âWe will play a game wherein none shall join save he can tell the name of his mamma and his papa.â And they all cried, âBy Allah, good!â Then quoth one of them, âMy name is Majid and my mammyâs name is Alawiyah and my daddyâs Izz al-Din.â Another spoke in like guise and yet a third, till Ajibâs turn came, and he said, âMy name is Ajib, and my motherâs is Sitt al-Husn, and my fatherâs Shams al-Din, the Wazir of Cairo.â âBy Allah,â cried they, âthe Wazir is not thy true father.â Ajib answered, âThe Wazir is my father in very deed.â Then the boys all laughed and clapped their hands at him, saying âHe does not know who is his papa; get out from among us, for none shall play with us except he know his fatherâs name.â

There upon they dispersed from around him and laughed him to scorn; so his breast was straitened and he well nigh choked with tears and hurt feelings. Then said the Monitor to him, âWe know that the Wazir is thy grandfather, the father of thy mother, Sitt al-Husn, and not thy father. As for thy father, neither dost thou know him nor yet do we; for the Sultan married thy mother to the hunchbacked horse-groom; but the Jinni came and slept with her and thou hast no known father. Leave, then, comparing thyself too advantageously with the little ones of the school, till thou know that thou hast a lawful father; for until then thou wilt pass for a child of adultery amongst them. Seest thou not that even a hucksterâs son knoweth his own sire? Thy grandfather is the Wazir of Egypt; but as for thy father we wot him not and we say indeed that thou hast none. So return to thy sound senses!â

When Ajib heard these insulting words from the Monitor and the schoolboys and understood the reproach they put upon him, he went out at once and ran to his mother, Sitt al-Husn, to complain; but he was crying so bitterly that his tears prevented his speech for a while. When she heard his sobs and saw his tears her heart burned as though with fire for him, and she said, âO my son, why dost thou weep? Allah keep the tears from thine eyes! Tell me what hath betided thee?â So he told her all that he heard from the boys and from the Monitor and ended with asking, âAnd who, O my mother, is my father?â She answered, âThy father is the Wazir of Egypt,â but he said, âDo not lie to me. The Wazir is thy father, not mine! Who then is my father? Except thou tell me the very truth I will kill myself with this hanger.â

When his mother heard him speak of his father she wept, remembering her cousin and her bridal night with him and all that occurred there and then, and she repeated these couplets:

âLove in my heart they lit and went their ways,

And all I love to furthest lands withdrew;

And when they left me sufferance also left,

And when we parted Patience bade adieu:

They fled and flying with my joys they fled,

In very constancy my spirit flew:

They made my eyelids flow with severance tears

And to the parting-pang these drops are due:

And when I long to see reunion-day,

My groans prolonging sore for ruth I sue:

Then in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace,

And love and longing care and cark renew:

O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak,

Whose love yet closer than a shirt I drew,

Beloved ones! how long this hard despite?

How long this severance and this coy shy flight?â

Then she wailed and shrieked aloud and her son did the like; and behold, in came the Wazir whose heart burnt within him at the sight of their lamentations and he said, âWhat makes you weep?â So the Lady of Beauty acquainted him with what happened between her son and the schoolboys; and he also wept, calling to mind his brother and what had passed between them and what had betided his daughter and how he had failed to find out what mystery there was in the matter. Then he rose at once, and repairing to the audience-hall, went straight to the King and told his tale and craved his permission to travel eastward to the city of Bassorah and ask after his brotherâs son. Furthermore he besought the Sultan to write for him letters patent, authorizing him to seize upon Badr al-Din, his nephew and son-in-law, wheresoever he might find him.

And he wept before the King, who had pity on him and wrote royal autographs to his deputies in all climes and countries and cities; whereat the Wazir rejoiced and prayed for blessings on him. Then, taking leave of his Sovereign, he returned to his house, where he equipped himself and his daughter and his adopted child Ajib, with all things meet for a long march; and set out and travelled the first day and the second and the third and so forth till he arrived at Damascuscity. He found it a fair place abounding in trees and streams, even as the poet said of it:

When I nighted and dayed in

Damascus-town,

Time sware such another he neâer should view:

And careless we slept under wing of night,

Till dappled Morn âgan her smiles renew:

And dew-drops on branch in their beauty hung,

Like pearls to be dropt when the Zephyr blew:

And the Lake was the page where birds read and note,

And the clouds set points to what breezes wrote.

The Wazir encamped on the open space called Al-Hasa;¹ and, after pitching tents, said to his servants, âA halt here for two days!â So they went into the city upon their several occasions, this to sell and that to buy; this to go to the Hammam and that to visit the Cathedral-mosque of the Banu Umayyah, the Ommiades, whose like is not in this world. Ajib also went, with his attendant Eunuch, for solace and diversion to the city and the servant followed with a quarter-staff of almond-wood so heavy that if he struck a camel therewith the beast would never rise again.

When the people of Damascus saw Ajibâs beauty and brilliancy and perfect grace and symmetry (for he was a marvel of comeliness and winning loveliness, softer than the cool breeze of the north, sweeter than limpid waters to man in drowth, and pleasanter than the health for which sick man sueth), a mighty many followed him, whilst others ran on before and sat down on the road until he should come up, that they might gaze on him, till, as Destiny had decreed, the Eunuch stopped opposite the shop of Ajibâs father, Badr al-Din Hasan. Now his beard had grown long and thick and his wits had ripened during the twelve years which had passed over him, and the Cook and ex-rogue having died, the so-called Hasan of Bassorah had succeeded to his goods and shop, for that he had been formally adopted before the Kazi and witnesses.

When his son and the Eunuch stepped before him he gazed on Ajib and, seeing how very beautiful he was, his heart fluttered and throbbed, and blood drew to blood and natural affection spake out and his bowels yearned over him. He had just dressed a conserve of pomegranate grains with sugar, and Heaven-implanted love wrought within him; so he called to his son Ajib and said, âO my lord, O thou who hast gotten the mastery of my heart and my very vitals and to whom my bowels yearn; say me, wilt thou enter my house and solace my soul by eating of my meat?â Then his eyes streamed with tears which he could not stay, for he bethought him of what he had been and what he had become. When Ajib heard his fatherâs words his heart also yearned himwards and he looked at the Eunuch and said to him, âOf a truth, O my good guard, my heart yearns to this Cook; he is as one that hath a son far away from him: so let us enter and gladden his heart by tasting of his hospitality. Perchance for our so doing Allah may reunite me with my father.â

When the Eunuch heard these words he cried, âA fine thing this, by Allah! Shall the sons of Wazirs be seen eating in a common cook-shop? Indeed I keep off the folk from thee with this quarter-staff lest they even look upon thee; and I dare not suffer thee to enter this shop at all.â When Hasan of Bassorah heard this speech he marvelled and turned to the Eunuch with the tears pouring down his cheeks; and Ajib said, âVerily my heart loves him!â But he answered, âLeave this talk, thou shalt not go in.â

Thereupon the father turned to the Eunuch and said, âO worthy sir, why wilt thou not gladden my soul by entering my shop? O thou who art like a chestnut, dark without but white of heart within! O thou of the like of whom a certain poet saidââ The Eunuch burst out a-laughing and asked: âSaid what? Speak out by Allah and be quick about it.â So Hasan the Bassorite began reciting these couplets:

âIf not master of manners or aught but discreet

In the household of Kings no trust could he take:

And then for the Harem! What Eunuch is he

Whom angels would serve for his service sake.â

The Eunuch marvelled and was pleased at these words, so he took Ajib by the hand and went into the Cookâs shop: whereupon Hasan the Bassorite ladled into a saucer some conserve of pomegranate-grains wonderfully good, dressed with almonds and sugar, saying, âYou have honoured me with your company: eat then and health and happiness to you!â Thereupon Ajib said to his father, âSit thee down and eat with us; so perchance Allah may unite us with him we long for.â Quoth Hasan, âO my son, hast thou then been afflicted in thy tender years with parting from those thou lovest?â Quoth Ajib, âEven so, O nuncle mine; my heart burns for the loss of a beloved one who is none other than my father; and indeed I come forth, I and my grandfather, to circle and search the world for him. Oh, the pity of it, and how I long to meet him!â

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